Comfort Me
by mlr96
Summary: Harry and Ron didn't save Hermione at Malfoy Manor, and Bellatrix handed her over to Greyback. Despite thinking she was going to die, she opens her eyes to find herself in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, August 1976. Traumatised and bitten, Hermione is starting a life in the past as Emerald Grey. The universe, however, has other plans, in the form of a certain sandy haired Marauder.
1. Part 1: Old New Friends

**A/N: I almost forgot to upload this! Got caught up with watching Criminal Minds...**

 **Anyhow, this is my new story, " _Comfort Me_ ". I will be uploading twice a week - Sundays and Wednesdays - and have no fear since I already have 14 chapters ready, two of them beta'd. Speaking of which, many many thanks to my wonderful beta _trinastar818_ , who agreed to help me despite the (very) short notice.**

 **This story is darker than what I usually upload. There will be no graphic scenes, but it would still have dark parts, mantions of consentual and non-consentual sex, torture etc. I rated it M to be on the safe side.**

 **Eventual Hermione Granger/Remus Lupin, but there will be a fair amount of Hermione Granger/Gideon Prewett before she gets her head out of her arse and stop thinking she'll create a paradox. Also, werewolf!Hermione. So there's that.**

 **One last thing before we move on: I will say it now to get it over with. I do not own Harry Potter. Never have, never will. I do not gain money from posting this, and my bank account is prove to that. In short - not mine. Clear?**

* * *

 **Will you comfort me?  
Cause my hands are open.  
Comfort me.  
Will you comfort me  
like someone you've chosen?  
Comfort me.**

 **Phildel, Comfort Me**

Hermione didn't know where she was.

She clearly remembered Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix torturing her and handing her over to Greyback. Nausea filled her as she remembered the werewolf, and the way he violated her. _Ways,_ she corrected herself.

After they were caught in the woods, Harry, Ron and she were taken to the Manor. Bellatrix saw the sword and tortured her for information about it. She told her all the lies she could, told her it was only a fake, but the mad witch didn't believe until the goblin confirmed her words. Then, she was handed over to die.

But Greyback had other plans for her. He didn't want to just kill her and get it over with.

 _"It would be a shame, to let something as pretty as you go to waste."_

He took her away and disappeared.

Later, she found out by rumors alone that Harry and Ron escaped, and that she was presumed dead. She wished she really was dead. Greyback didn't let anyone near her, but himself. _"My own private toy,"_ he would call her.

She was there for little under a month, when the rumors of the Battle of Hogwarts arrived. Greyback was dead, and so were Voldemort, Bellatrix, and so many others. The werewolves at the pack knew that their day was coming and fled, nobody giving a second thought to the witch in Greyback's tent.

Nobody but one, who had decided if he was to die, he's taking her with him.

She didn't know his name, and she didn't think it mattered. All that mattered was his being, his blood thirst, and the full moon above.

She was torn apart in more ways than she had known were possible during the time she spent there, but that night was the worst by far. The cries of agony at the werewolf's transformation, the look of hunger in his eyes and the despicable pain as his jaw slammed itself shut around her shoulder.

Mercifully, she lost consciousness after that as something pulled her away. Thinking it was death, she embraced the feeling, sank into it, and expected to never open her eyes again.

Which is why she was surprised when she did.

Words brought her back, harsh spoken words, though the voice was familiar, comforting even.

"I will not hand her to the ministry and have her experimented on, Albus! And shame of you for even considering it!"

"I'm only being rational, Poppy," another familiar voice said. This one, however, caused an entirely different sensation to rise within her. Doubt. Anger. Suspicion. "The girl might belong somewhere, we must –"

"You saw the state she appeared in, Headmaster," the first voice said. "Broken bones, wounded all over, raped, _bitten_. I don't know where she came from but I am not letting her back there!"

Her eyes fluttered open and she took in her surrounding. She was in Hogwarts Infirmary, which was as safe and beautiful as ever. The moment Madam Pomfrey saw her patient was awake, she ran over to her side.

"Drink this," she said without delaying, and Hermione was so tired and sore that she really wanted to obey, hoping for a relief of some sort.

Her body, however, had different plans.

"I can't," she croaked, attempting to move her hand and finding out she couldn't. A silent tear escaped her eye and fell on the mattress. "Am I dead?"

"Not on my watch," the older witch said, helping her drink the potion. Hermione drank it, not even stopping to think about it. Only when she was half way through, did she realize this might be a trap.

She pushed the healer away, alert again and searching for a wand she knew she wouldn't find. Her wand was broken to two at the Manor, accompanied with laughs from everyone who were there and Bellatrix's taunting words.

"Relax, dear child," the third person in the room said and Hermione found herself once again panicking because he couldn't be here. He was dead. Harry saw it! And yet, there he stood with all his grace, perhaps a bit younger than she remembered him to be but alive nonetheless. Albus Dumbledore.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Don't you know?" he questioned.

"I know where I think I am," she said cautiously. "But from my experience, that means nothing."

"You are at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Madam Pomfrey said. "Could you tell us your name?"

"Emerald," Hermione said, automatically using the name the wolves in Greyback's pack called her, not even stopping to think about it. "Emerald Grey."

"Very well, Miss Grey," Dumbledore said. "Now would you please tell me how you ended up in the forbidden forest?"

"I… don't know," she said.

"Would you mind telling me the date?"

At that Hermione stopped. She wasn't sure how long Greyback had her, but it couldn't be more than a month as the night everyone fled was two days before the first full moon, when… she preferred not thinking about it.

She clearly remembered watching the full moon during one of her shifts, three days before the Snatchers got them, and she knew that Draco was at the manor, placing it on Easter break.

"I don't know how long I was out," she said, "but if it wasn't very long, then it must be early May."

Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey exchanged worried looks.

"It's August 29th," Dumbledore said softly. "And you were out for no longer than a day or two."

"No," she said. "It couldn't be. I'm… I couldn't be here…" Pieces started forming in her mind. By the rumors she heard, Hogwarts was almost entirely destroyed in the battle. It couldn't look that perfect if she wasn't out for long. The man in front of her couldn't be alive. And it most certainly couldn't be the end of August.

"What year is it?" Dumbledore asked.

She was not to trust him. She couldn't trust him. This could all be a trick, Bellatrix playing tricks on her. She might have never left the Manor. She might still be there. There was only one way to find out, she realized, as a certain piece of information Harry had once mentioned popped into her mind.

Something no Death Eater would know.

"What is your favorite jam?" she asked the man who used to be her Headmaster.

Dumbledore's eyes lit with a curious glint of surprise. "Raspberry," he said.

"And your favorite Muggle candy?"

"Lemon Drops."

She nodded in understanding. This couldn't be Bellatrix. She wouldn't know such things – she wouldn't care to check.

"The year is 1998," she finally said.

Madam Pomfrey put a hand over her mouth, shocked.

"My dear child," Dumbledore said, "I'm afraid the year is 1976."

1976? No. That… that couldn't be. She wasn't even born that year. Harry wasn't even planned – his parents were only on their sixth year. By the stories she had heard, they hated each other. Or, rather, Lily hated James.

Endless, pointless bits of information swirled through her mind. Information she didn't even know she had in store. Everything that she knew of that happened that year, everything that happened in the past couple of years and all the main events of what will happen until Halloween of 1981.

The words left her mouth before she was able to stop herself. "What am I supposed to do?" she cried, as the tears ran down for the first time since she broke at Malfoy Manor.

If it was true, if what they said was true, then she travelled back in time, 22 years into the past.

How could this be happening?

"For one, you can tell us your real name," Madam Pomfrey said.

Hermione looked at the healer with surprise. How could she have possibly known the name she gave them was fake, when she barely remembered her real name?

"I'm not sure what it is," she admitted. "I was Emerald for what seemed like forever. I… I think it was Hermione. Hermione Granger."

"In that case, Miss Granger, I would be more than glad to offer you a place at the school, if you wish for it," Dumbledore said. "That is, of course, unless you had already graduated your school, back in your own time."

"I haven't," Hermione said. "I haven't even got to finish my sixth year."

 _You died before I could._ She wanted to add but stopped herself. Nobody must know. Her sheer being here could alter the course of history forever.

"Would you mind starting it over?" her former headmaster – and soon to be headmaster again – asked and she shook her head. "Very well, then. We must acquire you some of the needed gear. Books, robes, etcetera. You were found without a wand, shall I assume…?"

"It broke," Hermione said, not wishing to elaborate any longer than she already had.

"We must visit Olivander's, then," Dumbledore said. "What house were you sorted into?"

"Gryffindor," she said.

"Let's head out, then," he finished. "Very much to do and so little time."

Hermione nodded before remembering another thing that seemed to escape her mind so far.

"Before I was…" she started and then paused. "The last thing I remember…" she paused again, uncertain of how to ask. At last, she decided to go on as straightforward as she could get. "Was I bitten?"

A look of sadness crossed Madam Pomfrey's face as the healer sighed. "You were," she said. "But we have a solution for where shall you have your transformation. I will take you to the Shrieking Shack, along with –"

"Remus Lupin," Hermione whispered. She really hoped she wouldn't have to face him, not knowing if he died in the final battle. She had the feeling she was about to meet an awful lot of dead people.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "I understand you know him from your time?"

"We've met," she replied shortly, honestly wishing he would stop asking her so many questions about the future.

Even if appearing harmless, Hermione knew that all of his questions were well thought out and would definitely be used in the battle against Voldemort. When it came to those kind of things, Dumbledore wouldn't mind changing the course of time in order to defeat Riddle.

Thinking back to all she's lost, Hermione couldn't help but wondering if maybe, just maybe, justice was with him this time.

They decided to head out to Diagon Alley immediately, as there were only three days before the start of term. But as they had, Hermione found two flaws in their plan.

"I don't have any money," she said, blushing. "And I don't… I don't believe I have any clothes."

"There is a trust fund to help students pay for books, wands, robes and other necessities." Dumbledore said. "And I have already retrieved you clothes to wear until school starts."

"Thank you, headmaster," she said, the expression sounding odd and bitter on her tongue.

"You're welcome, Miss Granger."

That sounded even odder. "Don't," she said. "Don't call me Granger. It's… It's too much like… like _you_ , from my time."

"Miss Grey it is, then," Dumbledore said and she nodded absentmindedly.

Madam Pomfrey helped her getting dressed and Hermione had to stiffen a laugh. Even though she didn't know much about fashion, she could tell that the clothes she were given were what she would imagine 70's clothes to be if she had to. Loose, colorful and mismatching.

Sighing, she finished getting dressed and walked with Dumbledore towards his office. She saw the familiar gargoyle as the old wizard said the password – "Raspberry Jam", she was _certainly_ remembering that – and walked inside.

"Before we head out, I thought we might need to create a background story for you," he said. "At first, I considered you being a homeschool student, but being that does pose the risk of someone seeing your scar."

"My scar?" Hermione asked. "What scar?"

"The one of your forearm, dear."

Hermione looked at her forearm and true to Dumbledore's word, there it was. Cut into her skin with Bellatrix's knife, the word _Mudblood_ , marking her as what she was. The cuts still looked as if they were freshly made, surely a result of the cursed knife.

The past few weeks tore away everything she was. She was disgraced, humiliated, and pushed down until all that was left was filth. Mudblood. Emerald.

"I am a muggle born student from France, recently moved back into the country. I studied at Beauxbatons Academy, where I also did my OWLs." The lie came so quickly and easily, it almost seemed wrong. "I will leave my birthdate as it is, but will change the year to make it fit. I was born in 1959, which makes me nearly seventeen, rather than nineteen."

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Shall we head out, then?"

Hermione nodded and took a handful of Floo powder. Throwing it into the flickering fire, she called, "Diagon Alley!" before swirling away in the flames.

She stumbled out, right onto someone who had the poor luck of standing next to the fireplace.

"Ow!" he called as hit Butterbeer spilled itself over the two of them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, moving away from him and allowing him to lift himself up.

"Let me help you," he said, reaching out a liquid dripping hand and as she took it, she laid eyes for the first time on the young man in front of her.

His face were significantly younger, a trait she supposed she would have to get used to sooner or later, and his eyes still had some childhood spirit she never got to see. Life really stomped him down in the years between James and Lily's death and the first time they have met, but there was still no doubt who he was.

Standing in front of her now, was a sixteen years old Remus Lupin.

* * *

 **So that was chapter one. What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Somewhere in the middle? There's a small box down there where you can tell me anything. REVIEW!**


	2. Part 1, Chapter 2

**A/N:** **I love you, I love you, I love you... I can go on forever. Thanks to everybody who Faved/Followed/Reviewed!**

* * *

Remus didn't know what happened.

One moment, he was standing with his Butterbeer, waiting for his friends to arrive, and the next he was soaked wet and on the floor, after someone bumped into him.

"Ow!" he called.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the person said, rolling away from him.

He stood up and realized she was still on the floor, reached out a hand to help her.

"Let me help you," he said and, as she touched his hand, their eyes met.

She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen – chocolate brown with just a tinge of yellow in the center. Her hair was thick and bushy, even though it was now covered in the sticky material, and she thoughtlessly threw it away from her eyes as she stood up.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello," he replied.

She looked at their hands and he shamefully realized he hadn't let go.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his hand falling by his side.

"You're apologizing?" she asked. "I believe I am the one who bumped into you."

"I see you've already met," a soft voice said, and Remus looked up to see Albus Dumbledore standing and smiling at them, as he pulled out his wand and cleaned them both. "Mr. Lupin, this is Miss Grey. She is a transfer student from France and will be attending Hogwarts this year. Miss Grey, meet Mr. Lupin, a prefect in your year and also a Gryffindor."

 _Also? That must mean she's a Gryffindor, too!_

"Please, call me Remus," he said.

"Only if you call me Emerald," she said.

A smile jumped to his face. "Alright, Emerald."

"Very well, Remus," she replied playfully.

"We should head out," Dumbledore said, popping the bubble the two were in. "There is a lot to do and very little time."

Emerald nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Remus," she said. "I'm looking forward to seeing you at school."

"Me too," he said, still smiling as he watched her walk towards the alley.

He was still swallowed in his thoughts of her a couple of minutes later, causing Sirius to jump on him in order to get his attention.

"What's going on, Moony?" he asked, smiling.

"All's good, Padfoot," he said. "How are you? I heard you left home this summer."

"Good riddance," James said. "He's living with me, now!"

"I bet Mrs. Potter turned white this summer," Remus laughed.

"I very nearly did," Mrs. Potter said. "And Remus, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Dorea?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Po- Dorea," he corrected himself.

"It's alright," she said. "Now, off you go. There must be a lot of things you wish to do."

"Thanks, mum!" James called, running towards the alley.

"Thank you, Dorea," Remus and Sirius chanted as they followed him.

The three teenagers covered most of the street during the next hour or so, before heading to Flourish and Blots, where they were to meet with James' parents. Upon arriving, they saw Dumbledore talking to Mr. Potter, and Emerald standing not far from them, picking books from the shelves.

"What's Dumbledore's doing here?" James asked.

"And who's that beauty?" Sirius asked, marking at Emerald.

"That's Emerald Grey, she's a transfer student from France," Remus said. "Dumbledore's helping her get what she need for the school."

James and Sirius turned to look at him. "How do you know that?"

"We've met before you guys came," Remus said, blushing. "She bumped into me when she exited the Floo."

"Oh, really?" Sirius asked, smiling mischievously. "Emerald Grey, you said?"

He walked towards her and leaned against a bookshelf. "Hello, Miss Grey."

She raised her brown eyes to meet with his grey ones, but looked away immediately. She couldn't bare it to look at that man, one she knew so well.

She had already gone through the grieving, the pain, supporting Harry, Ron, Ginny. Seeing him again was surreal, just like seeing Dumbledore. It made her reconsider the possibility that this was all a dream. But even if it was, so far she didn't feel like she wanted to wake up.

Ignoring Sirius, she kept going through the books, searching for the ones on her list.

"A shy one, aren't you?" Sirius asked, almost _purred_.

She raised her head and looked at him again. "And you are?" she asked, as calm as she could master.

"Sirius Black," he said, taking off a nonexistent hat. "At your service."

Hermione thought back to the stories she heard on late nights at Grimmauld Place the summer between her fourth and fifth year. Apparently, Sirius had it going with the ladies, and he was currently trying to hit on her.

Well, if he thinks she would fall to his feet, he is about to be very disappointed.

"And how do you know who I am?" she questioned, though she already knew the answer.

She saw the man Dumbledore was talking to, and would bet every galleon she had that it was James Potter's father, Harry's grandfather. If he was here, then so was James, and they must have spoken to Remus, whose scent she noticed clearly between the other ones in the shop.

 _Was this how it was like for Remus?_ Hermione wondered. _This… sense overload, 24/7?_

"That would be my fault," said the very person she was thinking about. "Emerald, these are Sirius Black and James Potter, two of my best friends."

"In that case," she said, plastering a smile on her face as she reached a hand for Sirius to shake, "nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, mademoiselle," Sirius said, lifting her hand for a kiss at his lips.

Mercifully, she had managed to extract her hand in time and turned to look at James. People weren't joking when they said Harry looked just like his father. Starting with the way his hair fell untidily on his face and up until the round glasses. The only difference were the eyes.

"Nice to meet you, too," she managed out somehow. "I really must go now, but it was nice to meet you." She sent Remus a smile, despite her best efforts. "It was good to see you again, Remus," she said before walking out of the shop to where Dumbledore was waiting for her.

Right before the door closed she thought she heard Sirius mumbling, "Remus, eh?" but realized she was probably imagining it.

"Is everything alright?" Dumbledore asked her when she walked outside.

"Yes," she replied.

"Let's head back to the school, then," the old wizard said and Hermione followed, not able to stop herself from sending another glance towards the shop, where the three teenagers were laughing and smiling.

Maybe all of this wasn't a good idea after all.

* * *

Hermione couldn't sleep that night. Every time she fell asleep, the nightmares brought her back to the reality.

She relived the torture she was going through at Malfoy Manor for what seemed like a thousand times, all of the nights with Greyback turned into one torturous event, but the worst nightmare of them all was that last night, with the unnamed werewolf.

Madam Pomfrey insisted she'd stay at the Infirmary, at least until school started, so she could keep an eye over her after the traumatizing experience she had gone through. After waking up more than once with tears on her face and with her body shaking as she screamed the nightmares away, Hermione thanked her for that.

Eventually, she gave up trying to sleep, and instead thought about her first day at what seemed to be the past.

Considering everything, the day went generally well, and Hermione's mind kept jumping back to her meeting with the wand maker.

Olivander went through five or six wands, each displaying small Magic but none fitting, before he brought her a 10 3/4 inches, dragon heartstring and made of vine wood.

"Interesting," he said when magic swept the room. "Very interesting indeed."

"What's interesting, sir?" she asked.

"I have been selling wands for many years," he replied. "I was even my father's apprentice when the shop was his. And not once had I seen a wand choosing the same person for the second time."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, afraid.

"The wand chooses the wizard," Olivander said. "And the reaction this wand had had to you… it knows you already."

"But… how can that be possible?"

"How, indeed?" Olivander asked. "Have a good day, Miss Grey."

She had no idea how had he known, but he had. He knew she didn't belong to that time, and still, he didn't say anything. That worried Hermione nearly as much as everything else did – those who say nothing are the most dangerous of them all.

It wasn't until morning shed its light on the room, that Hermione managed to get some real sleep, even if more out of exhaustion than anything else.

When she woke up, she ate her lunch and went to the library, where she came across a book named _"Hairy Snout, Human Heart"_. The book was written by a werewolf and was published merely a year before the time Hermione was now at, giving her a new perspective about the situation she was now in, and making her realize she never did appreciate Lupin enough for all he has gone through as a child and as an adult.

That night, she didn't sleep until dawn, as well. Instead, she finished reading the book and thought about everything she read in it.

The next day was September 1st, and Hermione was itching for everybody to arrive. She walked back and forth around the castle, cherishing every time the bell rang to significant another hour had passed.

At last, at long last, people started crowding into the Great Hall, and Hermione followed them inside.

She sat down at the middle of Gryffindor table and tried her best to ignore the stares and the whispering, giving up her last hope that nobody would notice her.

She looked around her, attempting to decide just how much Hogwarts had changed over the course of twenty years, and realized that not as much had changed as she thought it would. Her thoughts were disturbed, however, by a wave of a familiar scent.

"Emerald," a friendly voice greeted her and a smile involuntarily jumped to her face.

"Remus," she greeted back. "And James and Sirius, as well." She paused to look at a mouse-like boy, and her heart skipped a beat as realization crossed her.

"This is Peter Pettigrew," Remus introduced, and Hermione tried her very best not to be hostile.

"Nice to meet you," she said, as friendly as she could manage.

"Nice to meet you, too," he replied, and before either of them could say another thing, the sorting ceremony started.

Hermione only paid half attention to everything that was going on around them. She was too deep into her thoughts to care. Pettigrew. The traitor. How could she have forgotten that she was going to meet him, be in his class?

A quick glance towards the Slytherin table and she could see Snape sitting there. By the rumors she heard after Greyback died, Snape was a traitor to Voldemort, which made him on her side, didn't it?

It was all so very confusing.

The sorting ceremony ended and the feast begun, causing everybody to sink into their own conversations. Hermione didn't participate in any, but she couldn't help but listen in on the Marauders.

"I can't believe classes are already tomorrow!" James exclaimed. "It's terrible."

"At least this year we won't have to take any classes we don't want," Sirius said. "I don't think I would have survived another year of History of Magic."

"It wasn't all that bad," Remus said. "It was actually difficult for me to choose which classes I should take this year."

"Let me guess," Sirius said with a mock-thoughtful face. "Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, DADA, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology."

Hermione's head popped up at the count of subjects.

"I know," Sirius said, misinterpreting the look of surprise on her face. "Way too many subjects."

"Actually," Hermione said shyly, "I'm taking all of those classes, too."

"Really?" James asked, curious as Remus sent Sirius a victorious glare. "Moony, I think we found someone just as nerdy as you."

"There's nothing wrong with being a nerd," Hermione said. "You'll see that one day, nerds will be running the world."

"Spoken like a true nerd," Remus said, smiling, just as Sirius mumbled, "I highly doubt that."

"Just you wait and see, Sirius Black," she said, also smiling, before a frown clouded her features.

Sirius won't be there to wait and see. He is going to spend twelve years in Azkaban for a crime he never committed, another two years on the run and then a year stuck at Grimmauld Place before dying in battle in the Department of Mysteries.

"Emerald?" Remus asked and she turned to look at the man who would spend years believing two of his best friends were dead, betrayed by the third and alone. How did he react when he was told he could never see Harry again? What were his thoughts when he was offered the chance to teach at Hogwarts? "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Hermione lied easily. "Gotten a bit homesick is all."

"How is it like?" Pettigrew asked. "In Beauxbatons?"

"Sometimes it seems just the same," she said, "and sometimes it's worlds apart."

"Why did you leave?" Remus asked.

"I guess I just… needed a fresh start," she said, letting the conversation fall into a not-exactly-comfortable silence.


	3. Part 1, Chapter 3

Hermione walked into the Great Hall her first morning at Hogwarts tired and worried.

She was afraid to sleep all night, scared of waking her roommates with her nightmares, so she had spent all of her night overthinking everything.

How could she live with these people? How could she sit in class with dead people, Death Eaters, and people whose lives would end up so broken because of this world?

She sat at the Gryffindor table and ate some toast, her senses overwhelming her so much that she simply pushed them to the back of her mind, ignoring them all. Which was why didn't notice someone at her side until they spoke.

"Hello."

Hermione's head darted up in fear. How could she be so sunken into her thoughts she didn't notice someone approaching?

Moody's voice echoed in her head. _Constant vigilance!_ What would he say had he saw her right now? Hermione had to admit that even though Professor Moody turned out to be a Death Eater in disguise, he was still the best teacher she'd had. He was the one who truly prepared them for war, for he was the only one who really understood what it meant.

"Hello," she said when she came back to her senses and realized that there was no Death Eater sitting next to her, only a friendly looking girl with auburn hair and green, almond shaped eyes.

A smile jumped to the girl's face. "Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Lily Evans. We hadn't quite gotten the chance to speak last night, but I'm also a Gryffindor."

"You're my age, right?" Hermione asked. She knew Harry's mother was the same age as the Marauders but, until now, she had forgotten that meant they were sharing a dorm.

"Yes," Lily said. "Sixth year. Along with those knuckleheads," she added, nodding towards the Marauders who had just entered the hall and sat by their side.

"Who's a knucklehead?" Sirius asked, helping himself to some sausages.

"Apparently, you," Hermione said, a tiny smile lingering on her lips.

"Hey!" James called. "Nobody's calling my best mate a knucklehead!"

"Oh, don't worry," Lily said. "I called you a knucklehead as well."

"Evans, you're breaking my heart," James said, mock hurt. "Will you go out with me?"

"Like I said," Lily rolled her eyes at Hermione's direction, though her voice was stern and unamused. "Knucklehead."

Hermione let out a laugh and reached out her hand towards Lily. "Emerald Grey," she introduced herself. "I have a feeling you and I would be good friends."

"Likewise," Lily said, laughing. "It seems like Professor McGonagall is coming," she added, sounding worried. "I hope I would get accepted to the subjects I asked for."

"Honestly, Lily?" Sirius asked. "How many OWLs did you get?"

"Eight," Lily mumbled. "But McGonagall only accept the very best and Slughorn has a limited amount of students in his class! Only 12 students take his advanced class every year!"

"Don't worry, Evans, Slughorn loves you," Sirius said, unable to keep the sting out of his voice. "I believe Jamie and I need to be more worried."

"You need to be worried because if you ever call me Jamie again, I'll hex you," James threatened.

"No, you won't," Sirius said, smiling widely.

Professor McGonagall approached the table and started handing everyone their timetables. Of course, Lily was accepted to the subjects she wished to study and so did Remus, Sirius and James. Handing Pettigrew's timetable was slightly more complicated, as not all of his marks were sufficient, but eventually Professor McGonagall was done.

Then, she turned to Hermione.

"Miss Grey," she said. "By what Dumbledore had told me, you have received 9 O's, one in every subject you took except for Defense Against the Dark Arts where you received an E. is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Hermione said, silently thanking Merlin that the rest of her classmates were already gone.

"If that is the case, I see no reason you couldn't take the subjects you requested and I am looking forward to see you in my class," McGonagall said, tapping Hermione's timetable and filling it with information. "I believe Mr. Lupin is waiting to show you the way to your first class," she added.

Hermione's head spun around. There, not even two feet away from her, stood Remus as he was patiently waiting.

"We both have Potions first thing," he explained. "I thought you might need some help getting to it, as you don't know where the class is."

"Thank you," Hermione said, blushing as she stood up and followed him out of the Great Hall towards the dungeons.

"So," he said, "ten OWLs?" Hermione shrugged. "I must say, it is impressing."

"Look who's talking," Hermione said. "You're taking seven subjects, too. How many OWLs have _you_ got?"

"Nine," he said with a smile. "I never did managed to concentrate in History of Magic class."

"It does seem to be an extraordinarily boring class," Hermione laughed.

"Indeed so," Remus smiled. "You know, I didn't see you yesterday on the train."

Hermione knew this was more of a question than a comment and felt obligated to respond.

"I was here already," she said carefully. "I… couldn't make it on the train, so Dumbledore agreed that I'll stay here."

"Was it the same reason he was with you when you bought your school products?" he asked.

"In a way," she said shortly.

Remus frowned. He had the odd feeling that Emerald was keeping something from him but he was afraid to push on the matter and make her back away. They had only known each other for a couple of days, he couldn't ask her to open up that quickly.

Especially not when he was keeping a secret that is probably bigger.

As they walked into the class, Hermione was overwhelmed by the amount of smells her senses were receiving. She doubled back and took a step backwards, breathing the clean air in the hallway.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, worried.

"Yeah," she replied, distracted, before preparing herself to enter the classroom again.

Remus led her to one of the tables, where she noticed an Amortentia potion. It was very much like her own first class with Slughorn back at her time only this time, under all of the different smells in the class, she managed to notice a different smell than what she was used to.

The fresh parchment was still there, for sure, but so were other ones she couldn't quite recognize. She rubbed her nose, hoping to relieve some of the shock it experienced. Her senses were definitely overloaded.

"Now then," Slughorn said, calling the class to silence. "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at. These are the kind of potions you should be able to make after completing your NEWTs. You have probably heard of them already, even if you haven't made them yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?"

He marked at a cauldron near to where Snape was sitting along with a couple of other Slytherins.

Hermione's hand popped to the air, and so, to her surprise, did Remus', Lily's and Snape's.

"Miss Evans?" Slughorn asked and Lily started talking immediately.

"Veritaserum," she said, "a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Very good," Slughorn said proudly. "Five points to Gryffindor. Now, this one here is pretty well known," he said, marking at the potion next to where a couple of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws set. "Who can tell me what that is? Mr. Snape?"

"Polyjuice Potion," the Potion's Master to-be said. "Changes the looks of the drinker for an hour's time."

"Excellent, five points to Slytherin! Now, this one here… yes, Miss…?" Slughorn looked at Hermione, as if surprised to see her there.

"Grey, sir," she said. "And the potion is Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world," she added, blushing slightly.

"It is indeed," Slughorn said. "It's supposed to smell differently to each person, depending on its preferences. Care to share?"

"I smell… New parchment," she said warily, "and rain. A bonfire and…" She couldn't point out that last smell, but she knew for sure it was something she had smelt at this time, and not at hers.

That was odd. Why would she smell something from this time?

"Good, good," Slughorn said. "Another five points to Gryffindor. Now, it's time for us to start to work."

Hermione hadn't noticed the small vial that was on the teacher's desk on her first class, but she knew it had to be here somewhere. People like Slughorn don't change that easily.

And indeed, soon enough, a Ravenclaw student marked at something that was blocked from her view and asked what it was. Slughorn reached out and took the vile of golden liquid, displaying it to the class.

"Can someone tell me what that is?" he asked, and Hermione's hand flew up before she even comprehended it, at the force of a habit.

"Felix Felicis," she said with awe, remembering the one time she took it and trying to forget the circumstances in which it had happened. "Liquid luck."

"Precisely," Slughorn said, smiling. "Today you would be brewing the Draught of Living Death. The student whose potion would be closest to perfect by the end of the hour would receive this one vial – twelve hours of pure luck, for all his needs and measures. You have an hour, starting… now."

The students have all rose from their seats and walked to the supply cabin, Hermione amongst them. She picked her ingredients and walked back to her place, starting to brew.

The potion was as difficult and frustrating as Hermione remembered it to be, but this time she had a trick up her sleeve.

When she reached the part where you had to cut the sopophorous bean, she took her silver knife and used it to crush it. Not far from her, she noticed Snape doing the exact same thing, and realized he was her competition today. Determined to win, she moved on with the potion and stirred clockwise once after every seventh counterclockwise stir.

By the time the lesson ended, Hermione was satisfied with the result. Slughorn looked at all of the potions and seemed to be unsatisfied at the least with the results the class showed, until he saw Snape's potion. He nodded in appreciation and moved on, finally reaching Hermione's.

Eyeing both caldrons, he took two pieces of Dragon Meat from one of the drawers, and let them sink into the black material. After five seconds, he pulled them out and looked at the results.

Hermione's potion was stronger, ever so slightly, and she felt a tingle of pride within.

"Congratulations, Miss Grey," Slughorn said. "One bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised. Use it wisely."

It was only when the class burst into applause that she realized she had just made two major mistakes.

The first was to draw attention to herself and possibly even change the course of history. She was never supposed to be in this class, never supposed to win. But she couldn't help it that she had already studied it all in her past, could she?

The second, and possibly more severe mistake, was to create herself an enemy she could have done without. Because from the looks of it, Severus Snape was _not_ satisfied with her victory. And she had a feeling he won't let it slide.

* * *

Later that day, after lights out was called and the four Marauders were in their room, a conversation took place.

"So what do we know about the new girl?" James asked and three heads turned to look at Remus, who was sitting on his bed and reading a book.

"What do you want with me?" he asked.

"You're the one that talked to her the most," Peter explained. "What do you know about her?"

"Her name is Emerald Grey, she was at Beauxbatons Academy before transferring here for unknown reasons," he counted, still not taking his eyes off the book. "She had 10 OWLs, 9 of them Os and the last – DADA – was an E."

"Nerdier than you," Sirius chuckled.

"She went with Dumbledore for her shopping and stayed here the last couple of days, and she doesn't want to talk about it, so I guess her family's dead," Remus said. "She has tanned skin, brown hair, chocolate brown eyes…"

"Now you're just rambling," Sirius said with a smile and Remus blushed.

"Dear Merlin!" James called in excitement. "Moony has a crush."

"No, I don't," Remus said, still blushing.

"Oh, you totally do, mate," Sirius replied.

"Fine, even if I do," Remus said, "what does it matter? It's not like anybody would date a you-know-what."

The room sunk into an uncomfortable silence and Remus put the book he was reading down to his bed before closing his bedside light. Peter also climbed into his bed and James and Sirius exchanged understanding looks.

They were going to get Moony and Emerald together. Even if that meant playing matchmakers.

* * *

The first weekend of the school year was both a blessing and a curse to Remus.

On the one hand, it gave him a needed break from his studies. Usually, he could sleep late, have fun with his friends, and just sit and do nothing.

On the other hand, the full moon came early this year. It was already in the coming Wednesday and it was putting him on edge. He wasn't able to sleep late because the smallest of noises woke him up. He couldn't have fun with his friends because his head was pounding like someone was hitting it with a hammer. And boosts of adrenaline swamped through him, making it impossible for him to just sit and do nothing.

"Take that sour look of your face," Sirius told him on Sunday afternoon. "Do something useful – go find Emerald!"

"Why?" Remus asked, not wishing to move a single muscle.

"Because I said so," Sirius said.

"Not enough."

"If you don't do it, I'll start singing the national anthem."

"No!" Remus called. "No singing, Sirius. Definitely no."

"Then go find her," Sirius said, tossing a piece of parchment at his friend's direction. "Here, take the map."

Remus didn't really need the map. He knew exactly where Emerald would be sitting in the library, but he decided double-checking it couldn't be a bad idea. Only then, he realized it was the first time any of them searched for her on the map.

Anger swept over him as he stormed out of the room, ignoring Sirius' calls and running out of the Gryffindor common room and to the library. He found her just where he knew she would be and checked the map again before reading aloud the name it said.

"Hermione Granger?"

* * *

**A/N:** **If the last part wasn't originally planned and I changed it to add a cliffhanger, does that make me a bad person?**

 **If so, do bad people get reviews? (yes)**


	4. Part 1, Chapter 4

**A/N:** **Just noticed that the Sunday chapters almost always end up with cliffhangers and the Wednesday chapters barely ever do. A coincidence? Maybe...**

* * *

Hermione's body was killing her. Her senses were oversensitive, her body was aching all over and her head – _Merlin,_ her head was pounding so hard she was certain something would barge out of it soon.

Random bursts of magic were flowing out of her whenever she felt a strong emotion, so she was taking time to meditate every evening and she didn't sleep so that the nightmares wouldn't cause troubles.

She was sitting at the library, trying to finish her Charms essay but mostly just staring at the parchment. It shouldn't be that hard! She already covered that material! Yet the words didn't come out.

She heard footsteps coming in her direction and smelled the familiar scent of Remus, not bothering to look up. From the corner of her eye, she saw he had a piece of parchment in his hand so he was probably just joining her for homework making. Only when he spoke, she realized how mistaken she was.

"Hermione Granger?"

Without warning, the inkwell Hermione was using exploded, sending ink on her clothes, face and essay. She looked up at Remus, not bothering to clean herself.

"What?" she asked, afraid.

"Hermione?" Remus asked again.

"I…" she stuttered. "I don't know wh- what you're talking ab- about."

But the damage was already done. Hermione could _smell_ her own fear and she knew that if she could, then Remus could also. Her eyes darted to the parchment in his hand and she cursed under her breath.

 _The bloody map!_

"I should go," she said carefully, pulling herself to her feet and using the table as suppuration. Her feet barely held her standing. "I'm not feeling so well, I better go to the infirmary," she mumbled. "Or to take a shower, I have ink all over."

"Tergeo," Remus said, and the ink siphoned itself into the tip of his wand.

A ping of pain crossed her heart as she remembered how Ron did the exact same thing to a napkin right before they headed out after the Horcruxes. What fools had they been, thinking they could defeat Voldemort on their own – three seventeen year olds? Yes, Voldemort had been defeated, but the price was too big. The price of war is always too big.

"We need to talk," Remus said, sucking her back to the present.

"I need to go," she repeated, passing him and heading towards the exit.

"If you will, I would only bring it up again tonight," he called. "And this time, it would be with James, Sirius and Peter, and in front the whole of Gryffindor tower."

She paused and turned to look at him, shocked. "Why is it so important to you?" she asked.

"Because you lied to us about your name, and Merlin knows about what else," he said. "And I don't trust you."

"Dumbledore trusts me," Hermione said.

"Do you trust him?" Remus asked.

She looked down in shame. "No," she admitted. "And, honestly, when I think about it, neither should you. That doesn't make you trust me, does it? But for Dumbledore, we're nothing but pawns on the board and he'll be willing to sacrifice us for the bigger picture."

"Because that's a part of war," Remus said. "Sacrifices should be made. Tell me, what sacrifices were you planning to make?"

"Other than my long-gone sanity?" she asked mockingly.

"I mean it," he said harshly.

"Me too."

"Why did you lie about your name?"

"Dumbledore knows my real name, if it worries you," she said.

"What worries me is the reason you lied to us, _Hermione_."

The way he said her name sent daggers into her heart. "I just wanted a fresh start," she said.

"I don't believe you," he replied.

"Believe it or not, that is the truth," she said angrily.

"Are you really a transfer from France?" he questioned.

"That is none of your damn business," she said stubbornly.

"Hermione –"

" _Stop calling me Hermione!_ "

Two candles at their surrounding blew themselves out and three books fell from the shelves. Hermione fell down on the floor, curling into a ball and covering her head in her hands.

"Deep breaths," she told herself. "Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths."

Tears started streaming down her face as she calmed herself down. _Nobody has called her Hermione in such a long time and hearing Remus say it only brought her back to her third year. It brought her back to late nights at the headquarters, to Bill and Fluer's wedding and to the last time she saw him, back at Grimmauld Place._

The list of names she had been called since the Snatchers caught them in the woods rolled in her head.

 _Pretty Thing, Beautiful, Mudblood, Filth, Mine, Grey, and Emerald._

 _That is who I am. That is what's left of me. No more, no less._

 _And not Hermione._

She raised her head to see him staring at her with shock and realized she was mumbling the names aloud repeatedly. She was barely whispering, but with his hearing, especially so close to the full moon, she knew he heard every word she said.

"Pretty Thing. Beautiful. Mudblood. Filth. Mine. Grey. Emerald."

She stumbled away from him and ran away, not even bothering to pick up her bag as she disappeared.

Remus didn't know what to think about the display of power and insanity Emerald – Hermione – had just shown in the library. The list she was saying repeatedly was now stuck in his head as he thought about every single title there.

 _Pretty Thing_ , he was afraid to find out what would cause someone to call her that way.

 _Beautiful_ , but the way it was said told him that it wasn't an ordinary compliment, but something else entirely.

 _Mudblood_ , so she was a muggle born. That meant she wasn't working for You-Know-Who. Maybe it was one of his supporters that hurt her so much?

 _Filth_ , his heart was aching to find out who said that to that beautiful, talented witch. Who broke her so much that she seemed beyond repair. Then he remembered she managed to repair herself, even if only partially, until he ruined it all today.

 _Mine_ , possessive. Stripping her from everything else, stripping her from who she was.

 _Grey_ , probably the first nickname given after she was nameless.

And finally, _Emerald._ The first time she had an identity again. Could he really blame her for wanting to stick with that name?

The whole ordeal just made Remus feel like a terrible person.

* * *

When Hermione stopped running, Hermione looked up to see where she was. Curiously, she found herself standing in front of the gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"Raspberry Jam," she said and the gargoyle moved aside, showing her the spiral staircase to the office.

Hesitantly, she walked upstairs and knocked the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore called and she peeked inside to see him sitting next to the table with two twins that resembled Fred and George so much she felt like her heart is going to break all over again.

"The Prewett twins," she whispered as she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Gideon and Fabian, at your service," one of them, whom Hermione noticed had slightly rounder face, said with a mock bow.

"How may we assist the fair lady today?" the other asked.

"And, if I may," the first said, "why does the fair lady seems as if she had been crying?"

"Miss Grey?" Dumbledore asked. "Is everything alright?"

Hermione slowly shook her head.

"Do you want us to leave?" one of the twins asked and she shook her head again.

"You just look so much like them," she said.

"Like who?"

"Like the twins," she said.

"We _are_ the twins," the one with the rounder face said. "I am Gideon, this is Fabian. The ones and only."

"The other twins," Hermione mumbled, tears streaming down her face again. "They aren't even born yet, are they?"

"I must admit that I am utterly and entirely confused," Fabian said.

"I will explain it all, to the best of my ability," Dumbledore said, eyeing Hermione worryingly. "But you must promise that all you hear will never leave this room."

"As much as I would love that explanation, Albus, I'd rather deal with the crying girl first," Gideon said. "What happened?"

"It's all just too much," she said. "I didn't remember the map, and now Remus found out I was lying. I… I can't do it anymore. I can't stay in class with dead people."

She started sobbing and then Gideon was by her side, holding her as she cried while Dumbledore explained the whole thing. How Hagrid found her in the Forbidden Forest, injured and hurt. How she woke up a couple of days later and how he found out she was from the future. How they decided she would be safest in Hogwarts and how she enrolled to her sixth year since she had never gotten to finish it in her own time.

When he was over, the only sound that was heard in the room was Hermione's sobs as she covered her events in the last couple of days.

"And now Remus saw my real name at the map, and he knows," she cried. "I can't do it. I just can't. I know everything that is going to happen to them and it's killing me. And to hear him say my name… the last person who said my real name was Harry, and it was right before the Snatchers arrived."

"You're safe now," Gideon said, whispering in her ear soothingly. "They can't hurt you anymore. I will kill anybody who tried."

"We'll protect you," Fabian agreed. "We'll not let anybody get to you."

"I'm not safe," she said darkly. "I'm never safe."

"You're at Hogwarts," Gideon said. "Safest place in Britain. Surely you know that, even in the future."

Their words started sinking in. she was at Hogwarts – the only place safe from Voldemort, even if only relatively. Dumbledore was here, as he would be for the next twenty years, and he was the only one Voldemort ever truly feared. She might still be in danger here, but she would be in even more danger anywhere else.

She sank into Gideon's hug and took in his smell. He smelt like a campfire.

"And as for your real name," he added, "so Remus knows. So what? Who could he possibly tell?"

 _The traitor,_ Hermione thought but didn't say.

"Just because the last time someone said your name, something bad happened, doesn't mean the name is bad," Fabian said.

"I, for one, think Hermione Granger is a truly beautiful name," Gideon smiled. "And so should you."

"So, is it settled?" Dumbledore asked. "Would you stay at Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "I'll stay."

"That's my girl," Fabian said with a smile. "And just so you know, if you ever need something, anything at all –"

"– we are closer than you think we are," Gideon finished. "Now, curfew is soon, and it's a school day tomorrow. I believe it would be best if you go back to the common room."

"And if that Remus guy does you any trouble, just tell us," Fabian said. "We'll take care of him."

"Thank you," Hermione said, walking towards the door. "For everything. And sorry for interrupting."

"Don't mention it," Dumbledore waved it off. "My door is always open for you."

She nodded and walked away, heading straight to Gryffindor tower and entered through the portrait hole. She saw Remus sitting on one of the couches and he raised his head when he saw her coming in, but she ran to her room before he could say anything and cast silencing charms around her bed.

She had a feeling the nightmares tonight would be worse than usual.


	5. Part 1, Chapter 5

**A/N:** **Only four reviews for the last chapter? ~sigh~**

 **On the bright side, we're getting closer to 100 followers. One more push and we're there!**

* * *

The next morning, Hermione was first to arrive at the Great Hall, as usual. She usually spent most of the night awake in her bed, so as soon as she could get dressed and leave her dorms before any of her roommates woke up, she did.

She ate her breakfast silently and finished before any of her classmates could come in, heading straight to her first class of the day – Defense Against the Dark Arts.

As she expected, she found the classroom door locked, so she waited in the hallway, reading a book as the other students arrived.

"I wonder who the new teacher this year," she heard a Ravenclaw say.

"I don't know, but my parents told me that Dumbledore had a really rough time recruiting this year," a Hufflepuff girl replied. "For all of last week, nobody had the class because there was still no teacher."

"Does that mean we're the first to have the class this year?" the Ravenclaw said. "Wicked!"

As if on cue, the classroom door opened. Hermione put the book back into her bag and walked inside, only to find the classroom like she had never seen it before.

There were no tables in the room, and no board at the front. Acting on instinct alone, she put her bag in one of the corners and turned to look at the front of the room, where she found two beaming characters standing.

A smile made its way to her face as she approached them and playfully smacked the nearest one on the arm.

"Ow!" he called, but he was smiling nonetheless.

"You two are _idiots_ ," she said, unable to hide the happiness in her voice.

"Is that a way to talk to your teachers, Miss Grey?" Gideon asked, rubbing his arm.

"We better tell Dumbledore," Fabian said with a smile. "He wouldn't be glad to hear he hired idiots."

"Couldn't you two tell me yesterday?" she questioned. "I completely humiliated myself! If I had known you were my teachers, I –"

"Would have probably not said anything and kept sinking into your own pit of self-despair," Fabian said. "Admit it, Emerald, you're happy we're your teachers."

"Of course I'm happy," she said, smiling now as well. "But you are still idiots."

"As long as the lady is happy, I shall be an idiot all day," Gideon said, winking at her. "Now go back to the rest of the students. The class is beginning!"

Hermione walked back with a visible smile on her face and watched the twins as they explained today's class.

"You have all received an E or more at your OWL last year," Gideon said, "so you are more than familiar with the basics of a duel."

"However," Fabian said, "there is a great difference between _knowing_ how to duel, and _dueling_."

"So that is what you will be doing today," Gideon said. "Please divide into outer-houses pairs. There are sixteen of you, so there should be eight pairs. The victory in each pair would go to the next round, and we have a special prize for the victor."

The class divided into pairs, and Hermione found herself with the Ravenclaw that had spoken before the class begun.

"The battle will end when one of the sides is either petrified or unable to continue. In order to surrender, all you have to do is call 'stop' and your opponent will drop his wand. Anyone who will fail to follow that rule would be eliminated from the competition."

"Start on the count of three," Gideon said, sending a reassuring smile at Hermione's direction. "One. Two. Three! Go!"

Hermione built an invisible shield while she sent a quick jelly-legs hex at the Ravenclaw in front of her. He dodged it and responded with an 'Expelliarmus', which her shield blocked. They kept sending spells and jinxes at each other for a minute or so before Hermione noticed the crack in his defense – whenever he was casting a charm, he left his chest area vulnerable. A moment later, and her stunning spell hit him, causing him to fall backwards.

"Five points to Gryffindor!" Fabian called, and Hermione looked around her.

Except for them, there were only two other couples fighting – Remus and Avery, and Lily and Mulciber. Mulciber disarmed Lily at the matter of a minute, and not long afterwards, Remus petrified Avery.

"Well done, Mr.…?" Gideon looked at Remus questioningly.

"Lupin, sir," Remus replied. "Remus Lupin."

"Remus Lupin, eh?" Gideon asked thoughtfully. "Why don't you have the next round against Miss Grey?"

Remus' breath caught in his throat. He had seen, from the corner of his eye, how talented Emerald was at dueling. Why she had only received an E at her OWLs was a mystery to him, but then again, so was nearly everything else about her. And he had seen her talking to the professors before class begun, they had known her and probably known about what he had done to her yesterday.

They were sending him up against a very talented, pissed off witch, and they knew it.

But, having them being the professors and him being a student, he couldn't do anything other than nod in agreement and prepare himself.

"On the count of three," one of them said again. "One. Two. Three!"

Before he even noticed what was going on, Emerald already sent two disarming spells his way and built a shield charm. He responded with a couple of spells that broke the shield and the dueling begun. They were both fast and talented, and her instincts were nearly as good as his. She dodged every curse he sent her way, almost as if she knew his tactics and knew all of his weak spots. After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually about ten minutes, her disarming spell hit him and his wand flew away from his reach and towards her, where she easily caught it.

"You're good," she said as she handed it back to him.

"You're better," he replied as he took it from her hand.

"I know."

"Up for the next round!" Gideon called. "We have Diggory versus Potter and Grey versus Mulciber." Hermione's blood froze in her veins as she heard the name of her opponent. "One. Two. Three!"

Hermione's instincts went into extreme defense mode as she once again cast a shielding charm with a shaking hand. She looked at the direction of Mulciber and saw his smile. She remembered that smile from the Department of Mysteries – the first real battle she ever participated in – and from the night when they took Harry from the Dursleys for the last time.

She knew, deep down, that this wasn't the same person she fought before but a younger, less experienced version of him, but it still made her shiver.

She sent a couple of curses his way, and he returned her with the same favor, until a stunning spell passed so close to her that she felt it between her hairs, and she knew she couldn't continue.

"Stop!" she called, scared, but Mulciber wasn't listening. He raised his wand to cast another spell when –

"I believe the lady said, 'Stop'," Fabian said with a stern voice. "Drop your wand, now, or you will be cast out of the competition."

Mulciber dropped his wand to the floor and Hermione's shivering stopped. A warm hand was put on her arm and she jumped in fright, looking up at Gideon's serious face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No," she replied in a small voice.

"Do you need to take a break?" he asked and she shook her head.

"I'll be fine," she said.

He nodded before turning his attention back to the class.

"Final round!" he called. "Potter versus Mulciber!"

Hermione only paid half attention to the battle, but from what she could comprehend, it was amazing. James was a very good dueler, much like Harry, and she had seen Mulciber herself in more than one occasion. It took almost fifteen minutes before James disarmed Mulciber, and even then, he barely succeeded.

"Our winner for today is Mr. Potter, earning a bag full of Honeydukes candies!" Fabian declared. "For the next class, write a paragraph on the importance of nonverbal spells in contrary to verbal spells while dueling. Class dismissed!"

"Miss Grey," Gideon called when Hermione went to pick her belongings. "If you please stay a couple of minutes."

She held back and he waited until the last of the students – a worried-looking Remus – left the class before he spoke.

"I'm sorry if today's class made you feel uncomfortable or brought back bad memories," he said softly. "All we wanted was to establish a basis for the rest of the year, so we could know which students are stronger at which parts."

"It's alright," she replied just as softly. "You can't possibly be mad at yourself for something you have no control over. It's nobody's fault."

"I beg to differ," he commented darkly. "There are some I would be more than glad to make them pay, if you would just tell me their names."

"What good would it do?" she asked. "You can't do anything to them and you know it just as much as I do. I'm fine. Just… let it be all, for now."

"Your wish is my command," he said, smiling. "Have a good day, and in case I won't see you for the rest of the week – good luck."

"Thank you," she said, a lump stuck in her throat as she left the class.

She was so sunken in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Remus who stuck behind to wait for her.

* * *

Emerald worried Remus. She worried him very much. Starting with the frightened expression she had on her face when she heard she was to fight Mulciber, and ending with the conversation he accidently overheard after class.

He never meant to eavesdrop. He just stayed because he wanted to make sure she was all right, and because of his abnormal hearing and the proximity to the full moon, he happened to hear.

And he didn't like what he heard.

It wasn't even the casual way in which their professor flirted with her, although that did bring up a very annoyed Moony for some reason, but more of the other things he had heard.

What bad memories did she have that flowed to the surface during a normal DADA lesson? Who were those who hurt her? Why wouldn't she tell anyone their names? And why would she need good luck for the rest of the week?

At least for the last question, Remus had a vague idea. Emerald mentioned she talked to them yesterday, presumably after their small encounter at the library and before she went back to the common room. He could tell she was upset and wary of him, and the thought that she wanted to go back to her old school crossed his mind more than once.

Could he have been that bad? Could he have made her feel like she wasn't wanted, like she didn't belong to the level she wanted to leave? In his mind, he had.

He hadn't told any of the other Marauders about what happened, or about Emerald's real name, but he couldn't stop thinking about it.

 _Hermione Granger._ A beautiful name, he thought, and having similarities with her new one. Was it the reason she picked it? The reason somebody else picked it for her?

All he had was questions. And by the current look of things, she wasn't about to give him any answers.

Sighing to himself, he walked towards his next class, Transfiguration, and decided that even if she didn't want him to, he would do everything he can to help her.

Starting with keeping her secret for as long as he could manage.

* * *

Hermione spent the next couple of days trying to ignore Remus, to the best of her ability. It was more difficult than she originally thought it to be, seeing as they had all of their classes together, as well as being at the same house and the same year.

By the time Wednesday arrived, she was utterly exhausted, physically and mentally, and she dreaded the time the night falls.

She decided that the best way to keep herself from the dreadful habit of overthinking everything was to concentrate on school as hard as she could, but the only effect it had was causing the day to pass faster.

Half an hour before sunset, she excused herself from her dorm room, using a previously thought excuse of a sick sister she had to visit at St. Mango's, and headed towards the Infirmary. Between her thoughts and worries, she didn't even notice Madame Pomfrey wasn't there.

"Miss Grey," Gideon said and she raised her head in surprise. "Madame Pomfrey already went to escort Mr. Lupin to the Whomping Willow, so I volunteered to be the one to escort you."

Hermione nearly laughed at the professionally in his voice, but was too stressed for that sort of things. Instead, she nodded absentmindedly and walked with him outside.

They walked the way in a comfortable silence, Gideon sensing somehow that Hermione wasn't in a state to talk. She silently thanked him for that, and stopped when they reached the big tree.

"I can't be there tomorrow when you will wake up," he said, "but I promise to come and visit you as soon as I can."

He leaned in and hugged her, and she held onto his firm body, hoping to soak one ounce of the sense of security she felt whenever he was near, but also knowing it was in vein. He couldn't stop what was about to happen now, and they both knew it.

She finally let go of him, and walked the known course into the Willow until she reached the Shrieking Shack. There, on a chair, Remus was already sitting, waiting for the moon to rise.


	6. Part 1, Chapter 6

At first, when Remus smelled the faint, familiar scent heading his direction, he thought he was imagining it. Only when the smell was strong enough to indicate she was in the same room as he was, did he look up.

Emerald.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, afraid. "You have to leave, now!"

"Remus," she said, her voice shaking, "I'm sorry for the way I acted the last couple of days."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" he asked. "I forgive you. Now get _out_!"

"Remus…"

"Get out before I'll hurt you," he repeated. "You have no idea in what danger you are right now." He didn't even give her a chance to speak. She'll have a chance to talk later, but not if she stayed where she was. "What are you waiting for?" he asked, nearly yelling. "Get out! Run away –"

"Remus John Lupin, would you shut up and listen to me?"

He froze on the spot and looked at her.

"How do you know my middle name?" he questioned.

"Remus," she said, tears swelling in her eyes, "I'm scared."

He didn't understand. If she was scared, she should get out and stay away. He could hurt her. He could kill her. He could _turn_ her. Realization came upon him, and he looked into her eyes.

"No," he whispered. "Merlin, _no_."

But it was too late for that now. The transformation had begun.

Hermione cried in pain as she felt the first signs that the transformation was starting. She knew what was going to happen, having seen it in the end of her third year and on that night with the unknown werewolf, but she still wasn't prepared for the agony that seemed to fill every fiber of her body.

"Emerald," Remus' voice came to her, as if from far away. He sounded like he was in pain too, and it was beyond her how he had managed to form words. "Emerald, listen to me. Is this your first time?" She nodded. "Take deep breaths. Calm yourself. Scream if you need to, let all the pain out." His hand was in hers, and he squeezed in reassurance as she did all she could not to let go. "I'm here for you."

She felt the bones in her back rearranging itself, and fell on the floor. Remus was here. He was there for her. She wasn't alone. She opened her eyes and looked at him, seeing the hair starting to grow on his body and the claws exiting from the tips of his fingers and wondering if the same thing was happening to her, too.

"I'm going to let go now," he said, his voice shaking. "Soon, it will all be over, but I will be here when you wake up. I promise."

His hand fell from her grip and dread filled her as she felt every bone in her body breaking, and then her mind sank into nothingness.

* * *

She was brought back to her consciousness by the pain that filled her very being once more. She screamed as her bones fell back into the right place and the fur sank back into her skin before it was over, just as abruptly as it had started.

She was shaking on the cold floor, and jumping in fear when she realized she wasn't alone. It took her a moment to relax and realize it was Remus, who looked as bad as she felt, and she leaned her head against his bare shoulder.

The next thing she realized was that they were both naked. In any other circumstances, she would have moved away, covered herself with something, but she was too tired and sore to care.

"Emerald," he said weakly, "Are you okay?"

"Everything hurts," she mumbled.

"I know," he said. "It's okay. I'm here."

"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything you did last night."

"It's okay," he said. "Don't mention it. Go to sleep."

"Will you be here when I wake up?" she asked.

"I will," he promised, wrapping his hand around her. "Go to sleep."

She let herself fall into the illusion she was safe in his arms, and fell into sleep that was, for the first time in many months, nightmare-free.

* * *

When she woke up with a start, she panicked. Remus wasn't there. Where was he? He promised he would be there! Had something happened to him? Was he hurt? Was he injured somehow? How could she not check immediately when they woke up in the Shack?

She could never forgive herself if something happened to him because she was too selfish to check.

Then, the familiar, comforting voice cut through the cloud of her thoughts, and she could breathe once again.

"Emerald," Remus said. "It's alright. I'm here."

She looked at the direction of the voice and saw him sitting on one of the infirmary beds next to her.

"I see you woke up," Madame Pomfrey said, walking towards her. "About time."

"How long was I asleep?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"You slept the whole day," the healer said. "How long was it since you had a whole night's sleep?"

"Longer than I can remember," she mumbled.

"Why didn't you come to me?" Madame Pomfrey asked. "I could've given you a sleeping draught."

"I don't like them," Hermione said. "They make me fuzzy."

The healer huffed in disapproval but let it slide, handing Hermione a potion.

"For the pain," she said.

"They slow my reflexes," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.

"You will not be using those reflexes in the next couple of days if I have anything to say about it," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "Drink the potion."

Hermione did as she was told before leaning back on the pillows of her bed.

"Can you put my bed closer to Remus'?" she asked, blushing. "I… I feel safer when I'm close to him."

"I think that can be arranged," the healer replied and with a flick of her wand, the two beds moved closer to one another. "I will give you some privacy now," she added. "I believe the two of you have quite a lot to talk about."

The curtains closed around their beds and Hermione raised her head to look at Remus. He looked exhausted, as she had seen him more than once, and she vaguely wondered what she looked like before he spoke.

"So," he said.

"So," she replied.

"You're a… too?"

Hermione let out a laugh that only seemed to make everything hurt even more. "Yeah," she said. "I'm a… too."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.

"What was I supposed to say?" she asked. "Hey, I know we've only met, but I'm a werewolf, too, let's be besties?" The sarcasm was dripping from her voice. "I didn't know what to say or how to say it, and I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"In case you missed it, that was my first transformation," she said. "The last year was a rough one, and it had only gotten worst until I arrived here."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Remus said. "Not if you still managed to score ten OWLs."

"You're very sweet," she said. "But also very mistaken. I didn't do my OWLs last year. I simply never gotten to finish my sixth year, so Dumbledore agreed I'd start it here."

"Wait," Remus said, confused, "how old are you?"

"I should be 19 on the 19th," she said before laughing. "It has a ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Nineteen?" Remus repeated. "But that means you should have been out of school already!"

"Like I said," she mumbled. "It's been a rough year."

"Is that why you changed your name?" he asked. "Because it hurt too much to remember what you had before?"

"Everything hurts too much to remember," she said. "Starting with the fact that James looks almost exactly like one of my best friends, the way Gideon and Fabian remind me of a couple of twins I used to know. The boy I once thought would marry me someday… that will never happen now. I will never see any of them again."

Remus took a moment to let what she said sink in. By the looks of it, she had been through so much already… which only made it harder for him to know he had to keep asking her for more.

"How were you bitten?"

She looked at him, and in her eyes, he could see so much more than her nineteen years. She had lived this war, seen all the bad this world had to offer and it broke her. She was now rebuilding herself, and he nearly sabotaged that.

"I spent nearly a year on the run, after Death Eaters attacked a wedding I was at. I knew that if they'd catch me, I was as good as dead." The darkness in her eyes intensified. "One of my friends… he said something he shouldn't have and we were caught. They… they wanted to know something, and tortured me to get the information. Then, I was no use to them anymore. I was certain they were going to kill me."

"But they didn't," Remus said.

"I sometimes wish they did," she said. "They gave me to someone… he's basically another Greyback." Remus tensed at the mention of the name. "I was there for a month. He wouldn't let anyone else touch me, he said I was his and his alone. The other wolves gave me the nickname Emerald, because he insisted that I would always wear green. He died," she said emotionlessly. "I thought it was all over, but one of the wolves disagreed."

Remus was fascinated by her story, unable to say anything. It seemed that the only thing he _was_ able to do was listen to the sound of her voice.

"I don't know how I even survived that night, but I did. I passed out, and woke up here. Dumbledore helped me since."

"When did you arrive here?" he asked.

"The day I met you," she replied.

She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes. It was the first time she told anyone the story, and it was exhausting. She felt like she had relived it all, only it was worse on the second time. Was that how Harry felt whenever they asked him about all he'd been through?

She opened her eyes when she felt Remus place his hand on hers, the same way he did last night.

"I don't know if you even want it," he said, "but I am here for you, for everything you need. Even if you just need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to yell at during 'that time of the month'." He grinned when he saw a hint of a smile forming on her lips. "You may have been alone until now, but I promise you that as long as I have a say about it, you will not be alone again."

* * *

Hermione fell asleep not long after and when she woke up again, her bed was away from Remus', and she could hear voices talking.

"– Was really upset last night."

"Yeah, he wouldn't let us in. He just… growled and he attacked Pads when he tried to come in."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"No," Remus said. "I guess it was just a rough one last night."

"Still, it's weird," one of the voices, which Hermione now recognized to be James', said. "I think it's the first time I've ever seen Moony _wanting_ to stay locked in the Shack."

"Did you feel anything different when you woke up?" asked Sirius.

"No," Remus lied. "Nothing unusual. What did I miss?"

"Well, the new girl, Emerald, is also missing school," Pettigrew said and Hermione tensed. "Her sister is sick or something."

"I was talking about school," Remus said, almost amused.

"It's odd though, don't you think?"

"What's odd?" Sirius asked.

"Emerald," James said. "She's been here for all of a week, haven't even tried making friends, spent as much time away from the common room as possible… Marlene said she's either already asleep when they come to the room, or she only comes up after the others have gone bed. And every morning, she's at the Great Hall before anybody's even awake."

"You're taking every class with her, aren't you, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Well…"

"What is she like?" Pettigrew asked.

"Do you even talk outside of classes?"

"Did she tell you about her past?"

"It seems," Remus said, cutting off the rain of questions his friends threw upon him, "that she had been through a lot. I think she's just afraid to make new friends. Give her some time and I'm sure it'll get better."

"I don't think so," Sirius said. "She has this look… whenever she looks at us, didn't you see it?"

"What look?" Pettigrew asked.

"Like she knows more than she's letting on," James said.

"Knows more about what?" Remus questioned.

"About everything," James said. "About us. She looked at me almost like she recognized me, Moony!"

"To my understanding, her best friend looks just like you," Remus said.

"It was more than that," James insisted. "She knows something."

"Well, I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't have let her be in the school if she was up to something bad," Pettigrew said.

"If you can't learn to trust her," Remus said, "trust Dumbledore."

"When it comes to her," Sirius said, sighing, "I don't know if I could."

They left not long after and Hermione was lying in her bed with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her when Remus spoke.

"I know you're awake," he said.

She didn't move or look up, but instead stayed right where she was and pretended to be sleeping.

"Your heartrate escalated," he added. "And I smelled nervousness earlier when James was talking."

"You are aware to just how creepy that is, aren't you?" she asked, her head still on the pillow and her back at his direction. "I feel like all of my senses are overloaded! I have to mentally prepare myself in order to get into the Potions' class and then there's you, _smelling_ I'm nervous."

"You get used to it," he shrugged.

"When?" she asked. "I honestly have no idea how you do it. I'm constantly tired, and pissed, and have the weirdest cravings in the world. I'm exhausted and it's only been a month. You deserve a medal!"

"Well, it does help that I have friends who knows," he said pointedly.

"Yeah," she laughed bitterly. "Sorry, but I really doubt it if I'll manage to be a good enough friend with Sirius or Peter to tell them. James, maybe, but only because he reminds me of…" Her voice died out as she remembered her friend.

"What was his name?" Remus asked and Hermione hesitated.

On the one hand, she wanted to tell him, to get it all off her chest. Now that she finally had someone to talk to after such a long time feeling alone, she wanted to keep him for as long as she could. But on the other hand, she couldn't risk the future by letting people know more than they should.

"No disrespect," she said carefully, not wanting to scare away one of the only friends she had here, "and without any bad intentions, I think I shared enough for today."

She could almost sense the disappointment he felt as they fell into silence once again.


	7. Part 1, Chapter 7

**A/N:** **Hi there! I now have a cover picture for this story (In case you missed it) and it's my first attempt at one. Any good?**

 **Also, in this chapter I got some more Hermione/Gideon + a scene with Lily and the Marauders.**

 **Tell me what you think!**

* * *

Remus was released by Saturday night, free to go back to the common room, but Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Hermione in the Hospital Wing until Sunday night. Hermione tried to object but later gave in, on the condition that she was allowed to have visitors.

It was only around lunch on Sunday that Hermione realized the flaw in her plan – she didn't have anybody to visit her.

Lying on the bed, she sunk into the endless boredom of the Infirmary until she sensed a familiar smell approaching. She wasn't practiced enough to recognize people by their smell alone just yet, so she opened her eyes to see her visitor.

"Gideon!" she called happily. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you. Help me, or I will be bored to death."

"Always at your service, m'Lady," Gideon said. "Would you rather to play Chess or Exploding Snap?"

"Exploding Snap," she said determinedly. "I'm rubbish at Chess."

"Exploding Snap it is," Gideon said, taking the pack of cards out of his bag and dealing for the two of them.

They played a couple of rounds in silence before he spoke again.

"How are you doing?" he asked, halfway into their fourth game.

"I've been worse," she replied.

"You're avoiding the question."

She raised her head to look into his striking green eyes. "You know, I'm tired of speaking about myself," she told him. "Let's hear about you, for once."

"Well, my name is Gideon Prewett, as you already know," he said. "21 years old, twin brother to Fabian Prewett and younger sibling to Molly Weasley."

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the mention of the older witch. _Not that older any more_ , she thought to herself.

"Devoted uncle," Gideon went on, "to –"

"Don't tell me!" Hermione called. "1976 means… Bill is nearly six, Charlie is close to four and… how old is Percy?"

"Less than a month," Gideon replied with unmistakable fondness. "I understand you know the Weasleys."

"I was a good friend with the two youngest," she explained.

"The two _youngest_?" Gideon repeated. "How many are Molly and Arthur planning to have?"

"They'll keep going until they have a girl," Hermione replied. "There's a whole clan of them. All redheads, too."

"Of course they are," Gideon smiled, running a hand through his ginger hair. "What else would they be?"

"Of course," Hermione laughed. "Tell me more."

"I'm single," he said, winking at her. "Just in case you were wondering."

"Professor Prewett!" Hermione called, pretending to be shocked. "Are you flirting with a student?"

"Professor Prewett flirting with Emerald Grey? Of course not!" Gideon called. "Gideon flirting with Hermione Granger?" Hermione tried to hide the way she stiffened at the name. "Only if she wants me to."

Hermione thought for a moment before responding. "Don't flirt with Emerald, Professor," she said carefully. "But… I don't think Hermione will mind."

* * *

Hermione was thrilled to be able to go back to her newfound routine of classes. After hearing the conversation the Marauders had at the Hospital Wing, she tried her best to be friendlier – talked with her dorm mates, didn't run to her room or the library at any available moment.

She walked to her classes with Remus, and whenever one of the Marauders shared the class with them – or, alternatively, none of them did so Lily wasn't reluctant to join – she worked on creating bonds with them. She knew how important true friends are at the time of war, and if she was to stay here, she needed them all.

Fortunately, nearly all of her classes were without Peter, and he turned out to be the quiet type so when they walked together she didn't feel obligated to talk to him. Even seeing him as a sixteen-year-old, she couldn't shake off what she knew he would become eventually – a traitor. He ruined so many lives, and she never really was one to forgive and forget.

The week passed quickly, and then Sunday arrived, leaving Hermione with a black pit of darkness that filled her whole being. It was September 19th, her birthday, and she was away from her friends, whom she could never see again.

The whole ordeal was quite depressing, really.

Sighing, she pulled herself out of bed and went to take a shower. When she was done, she wore some of her better clothes – which still didn't mean much – and walked down to the common room. It was still empty, as it was quite early, but the flames that burned warmly in the fireplace gave her an idea.

She walked out of the room and down towards the basement, in the general direction of Hufflepuff's common room, but at one point she took a left turn instead of a right one and ended up in front of the painting of a fruit bowl.

Carefully, she reached out and tickled the pear, causing it to turn into a door handle, and turning it opened a passage to Hogwarts' Kitchens.

The smell of breakfast filled her nostrils and tears nearly rose to her eyes when she remembered her fourth year, when Harry brought food to Sirius, who was hiding in the caves around Hogwarts. She pushed the memory aside.

Today wasn't about all that. Today, she wanted to do something different.

She walked in and instantly, a couple of house elves approached her to see how they could help her.

"Only a treacle tart, please," she said, and the nearest house elf bowed so low her nose touched the floor.

"Right away, miss," she squealed.

Hermione sat by one of the tables, where another house elf insisted on bringing her a cup of hot chocolate, and patiently waited. To her surprise, when the house elf returned, she didn't bring Hermione a slice, as Hermione intended, but a whole tart.

"I could never eat a whole tart!" she said, shocked, but the elf insisted she would take it.

"If miss wants to, miss can brings some to her friends," the elf said logically.

"Thank you…" Hermione paused, not knowing the name of the elf.

"Toddy, miss," the elf said and Hermione smiled.

"Thank you, Toddy," she said, taking the tart and walking back upstairs and towards the Prewetts' office.

When she arrived, she knocked on the door and was replied with a cheerful "Come in!"

"Miss Grey," Fabian said, smiling. "To what do we owe the honor today?"

"I asked the elves for a piece of treacle tart and they gave me a whole tart," Hermione said. "I thought we could share."

"Is there any special occasion for the tart?" Gideon asked.

"Just eat the tart," Hermione said, handing him a slice.

"With pleasure," Fabian said, taking the slice from her hand.

"Hey!" Gideon called. "That was mine!"

"There's more than enough tart for all of us," Fabian said.

"It's not about the tart," Gideon said. "It's the principle."

"You two are so childish," Hermione sighed.

"That's what you love about us," Fabian smiled.

"What's your point?"

* * *

When Hermione walked back to the common room an hour later, she was planning to head back to her room and reread her Potion's notes, as Slughorn hinted there would be a quiz on the next class. The Marauders and Lily, who kidnapped her the moment she walked through the Fat Lady, threw her plans away.

"Out, out, out," Sirius called, pushing her back through the portrait hole.

"What –"

"No speaking!" Lily told her. "You're coming with us!"

"Where –"

"You'll see when we get there," Remus said. "Just come on already," he sighed, smiling at her hesitation.

She nodded and followed them – or, rather, was dragged by James and Sirius – and they walked out of the main entrance to the school and to the Black Lake.

There, on the shore by the tree line, was the spot where she once gave Harry the oddest message she had ever been requested to deliver. "Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvaty that Hagrid is looking for you." A small, fragile smile crossed her lips but she hid it right away.

She couldn't afford herself to fall apart now.

Focusing on the spot she just thought of, she could see a blanket and a basket.

"What is it?" she asked suspiciously.

"What do you think it is?" Remus asked. "It's the nineteenth. Did you really think I wouldn't remember?"

"You really should have told us it's your birthday, Emerald," Lily said.

"I only mentioned it once, as an afterthought," she mumbled, looking at Remus. "I never thought… I don't usually celebrate my birthdays."

"Today isn't just any birthday," Sirius said. "You're seventeen! Now, that's something to celebrate."

Hermione cringed when Sirius said she was seventeen, but nobody seemed to notice. James opened up the basket and pulled out a Butterbeer for each of them. Hermione couldn't remember when was the last time she drank Butterbeer, and the sweet liquid tasted even better than she remembered it to be.

"How did you get all of this stuff?" Lily asked, scanning through the Honeydukes sweets, Butterbeer, and food in the basket.

"A Marauder never tells his secrets," Remus said.

Hermione had a feeling this specific secret have something to do with a specific statue of a one-eyed witch, but didn't say anything. She was too shocked by the fact that those people, who knew her so little, would do something like that for her, and felt a sting of guilt about all the lies she was telling them.

They sat there, talking and eating for an hour or so before Sirius got bored.

"Let's get in the water!" he called out happily.

"No," Lily groaned. "The water must be freezing."

"Really?" Hermione asked, a rare, mischievous look on her face. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Sirius, who seemed to be the only one who understood what Hermione was planning, nodded at her and they both stood up, grabbing Lily and lifting her up towards the lake.

"Stop!" Lily called. "Emerald Grey, I swear to Merlin that if you throw me in the water, I –"

The rest of her sentence was cut off with a scream as Sirius and Hermione tossed her away and she landed in the water, splashing in every direction. Sirius turned to look at his friends.

"I suppose you'll come in willingly," he said, aiming the statement more at Pettigrew's direction and the chubby boy nodded, scared as he walked towards the shore.

Sirius immediately took off his shirt and pants, leaving him in nothing but underwear as he jumped into the water, James following shortly after in the same manner. Pettigrew and Remus decided to keep their clothes on, but Hermione valued her one set of pretty clothes too much to enter the water wearing it.

She quickly undressed herself to her bra and underpants before jumping in, ignoring the shocked look Lily gave her regarding the state of her undress. Harry and Ron saw her wearing nothing but her underwear many times during the time they spent on the run, and Remus saw her completely naked just a week and a half ago.

She was entirely unaware to the looks the young werewolf was sending her direction.

Yes, he already saw her like that the morning after their transformation, but he was in no state to pay attention. This time, he paid perfect attention to every small detail – the way the water shone over her tanned skin, the way her hair seemed to be straighter than it actually was, the curves of her body.

 _Merlin, she was beautiful._

He swam in her direction before diving underwater and grasping her leg, pulling her down.

Hermione shrieked with fear as something pulled her underwater, stressing for a moment before the hand let go of her foot and a laughing Remus popped to the surface.

"Remus Lupin, I will get you for that!" she called.

"You'll have to catch me first!" he said, swimming away.

To his surprise, Emerald was a better swimmer than he gave her credit for. In less than a minute, she caught up to him, before her true challenge appeared – overcoming his power enough to drown him.

Yes, Emerald was in good shape, and had abnormal strength due to her being a werewolf, but so was Remus. Every single one of her attempts to drown him ended up with her being underwater, until she just gave up and jumped on his back, making them both fall face forward, laughing.

Looking around, Hermione could see Lily and James splashing water on each other and she smiled softly. It was only a matter of time before Lily would realize her feelings for James were there.

Remus was looking at Sirius and Peter, who were already out of the water, back to lying on the blanket at the shore. Sirius was tanning and Peter was nibbling on what little food was left in the basket.

"We should head back," Emerald said.

"We probably should," Remus sighed. "Prongs!" James stopped splashing on Lily for long enough to turn his head and look at them. "We're getting out!"

"Alright," James said, and he and Lily swam towards Sirius and Peter.

"You know," Remus said, "You never asked about our nicknames."

"Why should I?" Emerald asked. "I already know what yours means. Moony. It's because of your condition."

"My condition," Remus laughed. "You sound like James. He calls it my 'Furry Little Problem'."

"Seems fitting," Emerald laughed. "And about the rest of the nicknames, if you wanted to tell me, I'd have already known," she said, trying to hide the fact that she had, in fact, already knew. "Why should I ask about it?"

"Most people do."

"I'm not most people."

She ran out of the water and towards her clothes, leaving Remus staring after her.

"No, you are not," he mumbled.

"Grey, what's that on your arm?" he heard James asking and saw Emerald freeze.

"No- Nothing," she stuttered, quickly putting her shirt on.

"Come on," Sirius said, approaching her. "What is it?"

"It's really nothing," she said. "Really, it's…"

"Nothing?" he asked suspiciously.

"You can tell us," James said, "It's not like we're biting."

Emerald tensed in mid-motion and Sirius used the moment to grab her arm. Remus could sense her fear, and ran to her when she acted on instinct alone.

"Ow!" Sirius called, holding the bridge of his nose in pain as Emerald stumbled backwards. "She punched me!"

"I'm sorry," Emerald mumbled, tears forming in her eyes. "I… I didn't mean to."

"It's okay," Remus said, grabbing her shoulder and steadying her so she wouldn't fall on a tree trunk that was behind her.

She flinched at his touch and shook his hand off, looking at her five classmates with clear fear and shame.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled again before running away.

"What was that?" Peter asked.

"I don't know," Lily said, worried.

"She punched me, that's what happened!" Sirius called.

Lily neared him and looked at his nose. "It's not broken," she said.

"It still hurts," Sirius complained. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"I don't know," James said. "Did you see what was on her arm?"

"It looked like cuts," Sirius replied.

"Do you think…" A look of shock crossed Peter's face. "You don't think she did this to herself, do you?"

"She doesn't strike me as the type," Lily said.

"Doesn't mean she didn't do it," Sirius said. "The cuts looked pretty fresh."

"Doesn't mean she did it, though," James said.

"I'm telling you, something is off about her," Sirius insisted. "What do you think, Moony?"

"I think…" Remus hesitated before replying. The cuts could have been because of the full moon, but if that was the case, Sirius would surely recognize the type, wouldn't he? Besides, he didn't see any bandages on her arm after the full moon. "I think we barely know anything about her," he finally said. "And I don't think we should judge her before we know her better."

"I'm not judging her," Sirius said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna keep an eye on her."

"You and me both, mate," James agreed.

They picked up the now-empty basket and headed back to the school, wondering yet again what this new, odd girl was hiding.


	8. Part 1, Chapter 8

Hermione took a moment standing in front of the mirror the next morning, wearing nothing but her bra and knickers and observing her scars.

She had quite a few, though most of them already faded.

Some smaller scars were on her hands, potions accidents, cutting herself when she was at home, _normal_ things. But there was also a big, horizontal line on her stomach, where Dolohov's curse hit her at the end of her fifth year. A scar on her left arm, where another curse hit her the night they took Harry from the Dursleys. One on her left ankle, where she splinched herself once – not that she ever told Harry or Ron about it, of course.

After looking at all of those, she moved to the scars she got during the year Harry, Ron and she were on the run. The palm of her hand, where she touched a still hot wood from the bonfire. One at the base of her neck, from an animal that attacked during one of her walks in the woods. One on the right side of her body from running away from Xenophilius Lovegood, and another identical one on her left, from when she and Harry were at Godric's Hallow.

Then, of course, the scars from after they were caught, which appeared fresher than the others. An endless number of bruises now turned into small cuts from when she was at Greyback's pack. Scratches and self-inflicted wounds that she unintentionally caused herself during Bellatrix's torture. And the two worst of the all: The not-entirely-faded bite mark on her shoulder, and the good as new carving on her arm.

She was well aware of all of these scars – that was why she made sure to cast a glamor spell every morning before she left the room. It couldn't have faded in the water, otherwise Sirius would have asked about all of the other scars. No, it must have been the curse on the knife that deflected the spell.

She could never hide it.

Sighing to herself, Hermione finished getting dressed and went back to her room, where she picked up her modest-looking school bag.

"How do you get along with such a small bag?" Marlene wondered aloud. "I never have enough space for all of my things, and my bag has to be twice as big."

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Hermione said, smiling.

Of course, her bag was nothing like an ordinary schoolbag. It was enchanted with an undetectable extension charm, much like her old purse. The purse was lost somewhere during her time with Greyback, but the knowledge that was used to create it wasn't, as was Hermione's paranoia. Inside her schoolbag, she had three different sets of clothes, both the muggle kind and the wizard kind. It also had books she might need for school or for other purposes, money in case she needed some, a tent and other kinds of oddities.

An aftereffect of being on the run for as long as she had been was the need to be able to flee in a moment's notice. She hoped she wouldn't need to use it all, but still felt safer knowing she had the option in case she had to.

After putting her bag over her shoulder, Hermione and the girls headed down for breakfast. As usual, Hermione went to sit with the Marauders while the other girls sat further away down the table, Lily because she couldn't stand sitting with the boys and Marlene because something Sirius did – Hermione couldn't remember the details.

"What's up?" she asked, sitting down and Sirius and James stopped in the middle of a heated discussion. "Don't let me disturb you," she mumbled, helping herself to some porridge.

"You're not disturbing," Remus said quickly.

From the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Sirius looking as if he doesn't agree.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I don't mind sitting with the girls."

"No, really," Remus said. "You don't need to go."

"If you're sure," she said. "James, I heard Quidditch tryouts are this Friday. You're Captain, right?"

"What was the cut on your arm?" James blurted out and Hermione looked at him in surprise while Remus looked at him in disbelieve.

"It looked fresh," Sirius said.

"Are you cutting yourself?" Pettigrew asked.

Hermione was stunned. "No," she finally said. "I am not cutting myself, why would you think that?"

"It looked fresh," Sirius shrugged. "Did it happen when you went to visit your sister?"

"No, it's –"

"Why were you trying to hide it?" Pettigrew popped.

"Because I –"

"If you didn't do it, who did?"

"Do you intend to actually let me answer or are you just going to keep asking questions to eternity?" she asked, extremely irritated. "You know what? Even if you were, I don't care."

And with that, she stood up and left the table.

"Did you have to do that?" Remus asked Sirius. "Was it really that necessary that it couldn't wait?"

"She has secrets," Sirius said. "I want to find out what are they. I wasn't planning on just letting her keep them forever."

"Not forever," Remus sighed. "Just until after DADA."

"What's so special about Defense?" Peter asked.

"In case you missed, she's a good friend of our professors," Remus said and Sirius' face paled. "So if I were you, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you have to duel with her today."

Remus' prediction was unsurprisingly accurate. At Defense lesson, they practiced the use of nonverbal spells, and after seeing the annoyed look Hermione was giving Sirius just before class had begun, Fabian decided to pair them together.

Sirius fled the class when it was over like a beaten up dog, with his tail between his legs. During the whole of class, he hadn't managed to hit Hermione even once. Partly because her shield was too good for him to get across, and partly because she disarmed him too often for him to actually manage to concentrate and form a spell.

She enjoyed every moment of it.

For the course of the next couple of weeks, she managed to keep a relatively low profile – excelling in class as usual but not attracting attention to herself outside classes.

There were still the small things – blocking a hex one of the Slytherins casted her away in the hallway without really looking, a memory rising to surface and causing her to cry every now and then – but nothing too big.

She spent an increasing amount of time at Gideon and Fabian's office. She enjoyed watching them bicker when they were together, and enjoyed the conversations they had. She noticed that sometimes, Fabian would use some kind of fake excuse to get out of the room and leave her alone with Gideon, but she didn't really care.

Gideon became a steady part of her life, someone she knew she could always go to if she needed. She found it odd, as they only knew each other for a couple of weeks, but he had been extremely nice during those few weeks.

"Did you know," she said one day when they were simply lying on the couch in his office, "That in the third years' Defense book, page 394 is about werewolves?"

"And how do you know that?" he asked her with a smile, stroking her hair absentmindedly.

"One of my teachers made a big deal about it," she said, smiling at the memory. "He just went into class one day – he wasn't even supposed to be teaching, he was only a substitute – and said, 'Turn to page 394.' As simple as that. It wasn't anywhere _near_ when we were supposed to learn it."

Gideon enjoyed hearing about Hermione's life before she came to his time. It was so rare for her to have a _good_ memory for a change, and he loved cherishing those moments. And seeing her that calm, especially so close to the full moon…

"What then?" He asked.

"Then, he gave us an essay about it," she pulled a face. "Two rolls of parchment on how to recognize and kill werewolves."

"Why would he do that?"

"Our teacher that year was a werewolf, and he hoped somebody would do the essay and realize it," Hermione explained.

"Did it work?" Gideon asked. "Did anybody connect the dots?"

"Only me," she said. "When he found out, the teacher called me… what was it? 'Brightest witch of my age.'"

"Seems fitting," he smiled. "I would certainly bet on you being the brightest witch of your age."

"Now you're just trying to flatter me to get on my good side."

"Am not!" Gideon called. "Is it working?"

"Yes, Gid," Hermione laughed. "It's working just fine."

They fell into a comfortable silence until it was time for dinner and they had to go.

"It's a full moon tomorrow," he said. "I won't be able to come with you this time, so good luck, and I'll visit you as soon as I can."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled. "Hopefully this time Madam Pomfrey won't make me stay there as long as last time."

"It's for your own good," Gideon said.

"I know," Hermione sighed. "But I'm just so bored there. I really need to go, though," she added. "I promised Lily I would sit with her at dinner."

"Look at you, all making friends," Gideon said. "Until the next time, m'Lady," he finished as he always did and she walked away.

"Where were you?" Lily asked. "You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago!"

"Sorry, I lost track of time," Hermione apologized to her friend. "Won't happen again."

Lily looked at her suspiciously. "Were you with Professor Prewett again?" she questioned.

"Maybe," Hermione said.

"Emerald, please tell me you're not dating our professor."

"What?" Hermione asked, confused. "Why would you think that?"

"You're always at his office," Lily said.

"We're talking," Hermione said.

"Right," Lily said. " _Talking_."

"We really are," Hermione said. "I've known him since before he was our professor, Lily. He's my friend."

"So you're not dating him?" Lily asked.

"No," Hermione said, and her friend seemed to relax.

 _Well, at least Emerald Grey isn't dating him. Hermione Granger hadn't made up her mind yet about that._

* * *

The second transformation was just as bad as the first, aching all over as she felt her body being torn apart to shreds only to reassemble in a new, different form. It left her utterly exhausted when she woke, yet again in Remus' arms.

They hadn't talked about it – about how he held her hand through the transformation, how she woke up in his arms. By eavesdropping on his conversations with Sirius, James and Pettigrew, she found out that Moony wouldn't leave the Shrieking Shack again, and it left her wondering about what the wolves did during the full moon.

Coming back to school was harder this time, since she didn't have a long time to recover and when she did, she went right back to the studies. It had gotten more difficult as it went on, but Hermione still managed it, having learnt it all already.

Weeks passed and it was time for the first Hogsmeade trip. Hermione planned to stay in the castle, maybe spend some time with Gideon, but Lily convinced her to come anyway, claiming she _had_ to see the village. Which was why Hermione was slightly more than annoyed to find out Lily was ditching her for a date with some Ravenclaw an hour after they arrived.

Sighing and cursing to herself, she wandered around the village until she reached one of the stores she only went to when she was at Hogsmeade alone, since Harry and Ron would have been bored to be there with her.

 _Tomes and Scrolls_ , the sign said, and Hermione smiled. A bookstore. Finally, something she had known well.

She walked inside and took in the scent of parchment and dust, a smell she had always loved now intensified by her werewolf senses.

She absolutely loved it.

* * *

Remus Lupin wandered around the village of Hogsmeade alone, after parting with his friends in favor of his second favorite store in the village. Only second, because Honeydukes sold the best chocolates he had ever tasted.

Walking into _Tomes and Scrolls_ , he greeted Mr. Boneset, the owner, and started wandering around, stopping every once in a while to take a book off a shelf and look at it. After picking three books to buy, he headed towards the exit, only to pause as he saw a familiar mane of brown curls.

"Hello, Emerald," he said politely and she turned to look at him, smiling.

"Remus," she greeted. "Nice to know I'm not the only one coming here."

"It really is a shame," Remus said. "People don't know how to appreciate a good book." He looked at the book in her hand. "What are you buying?"

"The Princess Bride," Emerald said. "My parents used to read it to me, but I hadn't read it in such a long time."

"Is it good?" he asked.

"Brilliant," she smiled. "Though it can be helpful to know about muggle customs in order to understand it."

"I think I can manage," he said, turning to Mr. Boneset. "Have you got another copy?"

"At a matter of fact, we do," Mr. Boneset said, walking to the back and returning with the book in question. "I'll give you a discount."

"Oh, you really don't have to," Emerald said, clearly embarrassed.

"Nonsense," Mr. Boneset said. "Remus is a regular here, and every friend of his is a friend of mine."

Emerald smiled, blushing slightly, and paid for the book. Remus did so as well, thanking Mr. Boneset as he did and following her out of the shop.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he heard Emerald say. Looking up, he saw she bumped into some seventh year Slytherins.

"Watch where you're going!" a new voice replied and Remus tensed.

He could see the way Emerald tensed, smell her fear and he understood, knowing the voice that was talking to her.

"You ruined my dress," Bellatrix Black – now Lestrange, he reminded himself – said, her voice more amused than angry. "She ruined my dress!" she told her friends, who laughed manically.

What was _she_ doing here? Remus had to fight the urge to growl at her. The witch finished Hogwarts before he even started it, for which he was grateful. She really did scare him, and by what he heard from Sirius – her cousin – she wasn't really on the right mind. _She must be here to visit her sister_ , he realized, moments before noticing a red-faced Narcissa Black standing behind the group.

"I… I'm sorry…" Emerald said.

"She's _sorry_!" Bellatrix repeated, causing her friends to laugh harder. Narcissa didn't join in. "You're the new girl, aren't you?"

Emerald nodded, not knowing what else to do.

"Yeah, that's you," Bellatrix said. "What happened? Beauxbatons decided they don't want any Mudbloods?"

"That's enough," Remus said, pushing his way through and standing between Emerald and Bellatrix. "Go away."

"Why should we?" Bellatrix asked, smiling. "I think we should teach the two of you a little lesson, shall we?"

"Leave them alone."

And suddenly, Sirius was there, his wand drawn out and pointed at Bellatrix. Behind him, James and Peter stood, their wands also drawn. Emerald sighed in relief and fear, her eyes not moving from Bellatrix even for a moment.

"If it isn't my dear, good-for-nothing cousin," the older witch said. "Always here to protect the _filth_."

"I don't protect _you_ , do I?" Sirius asked, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Now, leave them alone."

"Give me one good reason," she hissed. Her wand was also drawn and she played with it in her hand. "There are more of us than of you. And none of us is a filthy little _Mudblood_ –"

The rest of her sentence was cut off when her wand flew away from her hand, dropping next to Emerald. For a moment, everyone stared at the wide-eyed girl who didn't even have a wand in her hand, before she turned and ran away, the books she bought clutched in her arms.


	9. Part 1, Chapter 9

**A/N:** **This chapter is the last of those I wrote on my first big streak of this story (That lasted a weekend and, apparently, nine chapters) and I'm really excited to finally upload it! Please tell me what you think, your reviews mean the world to me!**

* * *

"She was here," Hermione said, tears streaming down her face. "She… she was here, she's not even a student, she just visited and they started fighting – harmlessly, like we always used to do – but I knew it's not harmless because… Because I've been there in the future and today it was just a school fight between them, but she _killed_ people, _will kill_ people and… and I… I just want to go home!"

"It's alright," Gideon said, rubbing circles on her back. "She can't hurt you here."

"Yes, she can," Hermione said. "She almost did. If the Marauders wouldn't have gotten there on time I… Gid, I don't know what could have happened."

"But it was _you_ that stopped her," Gideon said. " _You_ disarmed her. Not the Marauders or anybody else. You protect yourself where I can't."

"I'm worthless," Hermione whispered.

"You're incredible," Gideon said.

"I'm broken," she said.

"You're perfect," he replied. "Everything you've been through, it only made you stronger. And that's beautiful, don't let anybody ever tell you differently."

"I just wanna go home," Hermione cried.

"I know you do," Gideon said. "I would give everything for you to be able to do that, but I can't. But I can give you the second best."

Grabbing her hand, he led her through the school, walking past corridors until reaching the seventh floor where a blank wall was placed next to the drawing of dancing trolls.

"The Room of Requirements," Hermione whispered in awe.

"I understand you know it," Gideon said and Hermione nodded silently.

 _Dumbledore's Army, Malfoy's plan, memories of Dobby and Winky, all came rushing to her mind at the thought of the Come and Go Room._

"Go on, then," Gideon said and Hermione walked three times across the wall, causing a door to appear there. She opened it and cautiously walked inside to see the living room of the Burrow.

"You asked for the Burrow?" Gideon asked, amazed.

"No, Gid," Hermione said softly. "I asked for somewhere where I knew I was not alone."

A smile popped on the older wizard's face. "Great choice," he told the room.

"It really is," Hermione said, stepping forward and stroking the sofa.

Here, Scrimgeour gave them their gifts of Dumbledore's will. _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ , and everything the book meant. She half expected Ginny to sit by the fire with the latest Witch Weekly, to hear explosions coming out of the twins' room, and to see Molly looking at her and saying that she is 'most certainly too thin. Don't they ever feed you?'

Gideon flopped down onto the sofa, grabbing Hermione's hand and making her fall on top of him, laughing. She put her head on his shoulder, giving in to the sense of security he gave her.

"Thank you," she said.

"Anytime," he replied softly.

She looked up at his green eyes, and thought for a moment that they looked like an endless meadow. It was beautiful, and she didn't want to ever look away.

Without saying a word, Gideon leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Hermione didn't even think when she pressed back, melting into the kiss.

Her hand trailed up and she ran her fingers through his hair, as he put his on the small of her back. It was a couple of minutes before he finally pulled away.

"Merlin, I've wanted to do that for so long," he sighed.

"I'm glad you finally did," Hermione smiled, leaning in and kissing him again.

* * *

After what happened at Hogsmeade, Remus decided to go back to the castle without his friends. He told them he would see them later that day, at the Halloween feast, and went back to their dorm room.

He laid on the bed for a couple of minutes, thinking about the frightened look Emerald had in her eyes when she saw Bellatrix, and the way her whole body shook with anxiety as she disarmed the older witch. He knew Bellatrix had made herself quite the reputation as a vicious witch, but would Emerald have really heard about it after only two months at the school, when Bellatrix wasn't even a student?

Sighing, he got up from the bed and grabbed the Marauder's Map, looking for her. He knew the name the map would show wouldn't be Emerald Grey, but he couldn't even find her by her real name. She wasn't on the map.

He looked it thoroughly, checking every hidden passage and empty classroom, and even going as far as searching the Prewetts' quarters, but she wasn't anywhere to be found.

 _She probably never left Hogsmeade,_ he thought to himself. _The map shows every area of the castle, she couldn't be hiding, right?_

 _Right?_

* * *

"Today we will be learning the Patronus Charm," Gideon said a month later at the last Defense class Hermione would attend before Christmas.

There was still little over a week until the break, but most of that week fell a couple of days after the full moon, when she would be grounded to the Hospital Wing at Madam Pomfrey's command.

"Can anybody tell me what a Patronus Charm is?" Fabian asked, and Hermione's hand popped to the air, along with Remus and Lily's. "Miss Grey?"

"The Patronus Charm is one of the most powerful defensive charms known to wizard kind," she recited. "It's a complicated, very difficult spell that evokes positive energy force known as a Patronus or spirit guardian."

"Five points to Gryffindor," Gideon smiled. "What are the main used of the charm, Miss Evans?"

"It is the primary and only known protection against Dementors and Lethifolds," Lily said.

"Correct, another five points," Fabian told the redhead witch. "I don't suppose any of you has performed it before, have you?"

"Actually, Professor," Hermione said warily, "I have."

Gideon smiled at Hermione as the latter tried to ignore the surprised looks most of the class sent her way. She just _had_ to talk, didn't she?

"Care to show us?" he asked and she stood up and moved to the front of the class. "Now, before Miss Grey will demonstrate, we will explain the process to create a Patronus," Gideon added.

"The incantation is rather simple," Fabian said. " _Expecto Patronum_."

"But it isn't that that makes the Patronus so powerful," Gideon told them. "In order to create a strong, corporeal Patronus, you need to focus on a single, happy memory."

"Many adult and experienced wizards and witches cannot perform the spell," Fabian said. "And there is no shame at that. It is, after all, far beyond NEWT level, and we are only teaching you it as a bonus class. Something small before the holidays." He smiled. "Miss Grey, if you please?"

Hermione stood at the front of the class, her wand out and her eyes closed. She thought about every happy memory she could remember, and tried to shove away anything that would remind her of the sad memories.

She remembered her first kiss, at age fifteen with Victor Krum under the mistletoe. She thought about the happier moments of her childhood, her parents, and every birthday she celebrated. She thought about Harry and Ron, about the Weasleys, Bill and Fluer's wedding and Sirius and Remus of her time. Then, with all of her determination, she thought about the first kiss Gideon and herself shared, and called out, " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

She opened her eyes to see the beautiful, silvery otter bursting out of the tip of her wand and swimming through the air all around the classroom. The Patronus danced between Lily and the Marauders, before turning to the twins and disappearing next to Hermione.

"Very good, Miss Grey," Gideon said, smiling. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, we want you all to try and cast the charm. Anybody who succeeds by the end of the class will earn their house ten points."

"You may start," Fabian said, and the twins took Hermione aside to talk.

"That was brilliant, Emerald," Fabian said.

"I was so nervous," Hermione admitted. "I used to have difficulties with this one, and between everything that is going on, I wasn't sure if I'd manage to find a strong enough memory."

"What did you think about?" Gideon asked, curious.

"Our…" Hermione blushed. "Our first kiss," she mumbled.

"I'm glad it meant that much to you," Gideon whispered, smiling.

"You two will make me puke," Fabian told them both, pretending to gag. "Ten points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter!" he added, and Hermione turned to see James' stag running across the room.

 _Just like Harry's._

She felt like a million small knives cut through her heart as she remembered her best friend's Patronus. He was the one who taught her to cast it, three years ago. Sirius was still alive, they had Dumbledore's Army, and they were fighting Umbridge. They had a cause.

She missed it. Not the lying, breaking the rules, running for her life part of it all – but having a cause, having something to fight for. She wanted that again. But she knew it couldn't happen.

At this time, the only ones who openly fought Voldemort were the Order of the Phoenix, and there was no way they would let her join. She was underage. Maybe not technically, but officially she still was. And everyone made it _very_ clear you had to be of age to join the fight.

At this time, there was nothing she could do, there was nothing she could fight for. And it nearly killed her to know it.

From across the room, Remus watched her. Despite all of his attempts, he couldn't cast the Patronus. Every time he tried, his mind flew to the conversation he accidently just overheard. Emerald thought about Gideon and about their _first_ kiss? That means there were more, didn't it?

But… it couldn't mean that! Emerald was smart, she certainly wouldn't do anything as foolish as dating their Professor, would she?

According to what he just heard, she would.

* * *

Hermione walked through the tunnel at the base of the Whomping Willow and into the Shrieking Shack. Gideon escorted her until the entrance, where he promised, as usual, to come and visit as soon as he could, before kissing her goodbye for the night.

She walked in to see Remus sitting there and waiting for her.

"Hey," she told him.

He growled angrily in response, but said nothing. He knew that if he talked, all of the anger from the last couple of days would come out on her, and most of it was only because of the full moon.

 _But not all of it,_ an annoying voice in the back of his mind said.

"Remus?" Emerald asked. "Is everything alright?"

She neared him but he backed away. She smelled like _Professor Prewett_. As usual.

"Did I do something?" she asked.

"No," he said, more poisonously than he meant to. "Why would you think you did something?"

"Maybe because you're not looking at me?"

He looked up at her for less than a second before looking away, and she was amazed by the amount of anger and hatred she saw in his eyes.

"You didn't do anything," he practically snarled.

"Why are you mad at me, then?" she questioned.

" _Mad_ at you?" he asked. "I'm not _mad_ at you!"

"Well, you are yelling at me," she said. "You know what, never mind. The full moon will be out soon and it's affecting us both."

"Did it affect you when you decided to start dating our _teacher_?"

"What?" Emerald asked.

"Don't pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about," Remus hissed. "His _stench_ is all over you!"

"He escorted me here," she said.

"He always does, doesn't he?" he asked. "Very convenient for the both of you."

"What do you mean by _that_?"

"Do you really want me to say it?" he questioned. "Because you might not like what I have to say."

"I'm a big girl," Emerald said. "Trust me, I can handle it."

"What I meant by _that_ ," he said, mimicking her tone, "was to ask you for how long have you been _fucking our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor_!"

"Is that really what you think is going on?"

"I know it!" he yelled. "I heard you talking last week at class. Your happy memory was your first kiss with him. _First_. That means that there were more. So what I want to know," he continued, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes, "is if the two of you were fucking right from the start or if it started _after_ he became your professor. You are aware to the fact that you're breaking about twenty different school rules, aren't you? Though, I don't know, maybe it's custom in _Beauxbatons_ to have a relationship with your –"

His speech was cut off as her hand made impact with his cheek.

"Don't you _dare_!" she snarled. "You don't know me –"

"Exactly, nobody knows you!" he yelled. "But I bet you don't have any problem telling everything to _Gid_ –"

"You have _no_ right to speak about me like that!" Emerald screamed. "About him! About _anything_! You're mad that I'm keeping secrets? How many students know about your _furry little problem_? I bet you're not running around and screaming it at anybody who would listen!"

"It's not the same thing!"

"It's _exactly_ the same thing!" she said, tears staining her face. "I'm entitled to have my secrets! I've been through more than most people have been through in a _lifetime_! I've been fighting this war since I was eleven years old and I have lost _everything_ I have because of it! So don't you dare – Argh!"

She screamed out in pain as the transformation started, painful as ever, and stepped away from him.

"You have no right to say anything," she said, before crying and screaming at the painful process of becoming a wolf.

A couple of minutes later, two wolves stood and looked at one another. One of them had grey-silvery fur, while the other's was pitch-black. The growled at each other, circling each other for a few of moments before attacking.

The grey one was bigger and more practiced, but the black wolf had high pain tolerance. They were both fierce and angry, and stopped only when sounds were heard from the outside.

The grey wolf bit the other's leg, injuring it enough so that it wouldn't be able to follow him, before running to the stag, the dog and the rat that waited for it outside.

That night was the first night that year in which Moony went out and played with Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. They ran across the grounds and had a good time the way only the Marauders knew how to have.

But howling was still coming out of the Shrieking Shack, heard across the entire village of Hogsmeade.


	10. Part 1, Chapter 10

**A/N:** **Sorry I'm late!**

 **Quick notice before we move on to the chapter - chapters 11 and 12 will be uploaded as planned next week, but after that I'm starting to upload only once a week, every Tuesday. I'm running out of chapters to post and I'd rather slow it down now and keep a scedule rather than miss several uploads due to lack of chapters.**

 **Also, I got some reviews asking about Hermione's new name - Emerald Grey - and asking me why I didn't name her Emerald, like many other time-travel stories do. I'm pretty sure I explained it several chapters ago, but I will explain again now. Hermione didn't choose the name Emerald to herself. It was a nickname given to her at Greyback's camp. Emerald, because he insisted she would always wear green, and Grey, well, because she was Greyback's.**

 **I'm sorry if you think that's a stupid reason, but that's just how it is in my story.**

 **Anyhow, I hope you'd enjoy this chapter! :)**

* * *

Hermione woke up the next morning crouched into a small alcove at the back of the shack. Her body burned with pain and she noticed her bleeding leg and the teeth marks that covered it.

She couldn't see Remus anywhere nearby, and was extremely grateful for that. She didn't want him to see her in that state – most of it she was certain Moony had inflicted.

Silent tears were streaming down her face. She hadn't felt so emotionally hurt and alone since Malfoy Manor. She vaguely noticed Madam Pomfrey carrying her back to the castle and saying soothing words she didn't want to hear.

Despite her tired body and mind, she couldn't sleep.

She spent all of that day and night awake at the Hospital Wing, trying to avoid looking at the teenage boy who was fast asleep next to her. The Healer must have sensed it, because she closed the curtains around her bed to give her privacy. Hermione couldn't even find it within her to thank the older witch.

At some point during the day, the three other Marauders had arrived to visit their friend who woke up especially for the occasion. They laughed and talked, but Hermione wasn't even listening.

She was nothing more than an empty shell of herself.

Even after they left, Remus didn't try to talk to her. Or maybe he had, and she couldn't hear him. It didn't matter either way, for she didn't want to interact with anyone.

Still, when a visitor arrived the next day to see her and she opened her mouth to tell him to go away, it wasn't harsh words that left her mouth, but a pained whimper.

"I want my mum."

After everything she had done, after everything she had been through, that moment she was nothing more than who she was. A young girl who was forced to grow up faster than any kid should.

All she wanted was to be held by her parents, to be told that they would protect her and that nothing would harm her any longer, but she couldn't have that. Her parents weren't even her parents in this time, and even in her own time they were living happily in Australia, completely unaware to the fact they even _had_ a daughter.

Gideon embraced her, holding her close as she cried herself dry and then a little longer.

"Everything hurts," she told him.

"I know," he replied.

"I wish I was dead," she said, meaning it entirely. "I wish she would have killed me. I wish he had killed me, I wish I died that night – any of the nights I was _there_. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much."

"It's going to be okay," he told her. "Everything's okay, Hermione. I'm here for you."

"I want my mum," she said again, tears flowing down her face before she finally fell asleep.

* * *

Remus felt terrible.

Not because of the full moon – it had actually been one of the easier transformations he ever had – but because of Emerald.

The girl was broken, it was clear to anybody who looked at her even if for a moment alone. She was hurt, physically _and_ mentally, and broken in so many ways he couldn't even comprehend.

He wondered what Moony had done to Luna – the nickname he gave her werewolf form in his head – during the full moon. According to the disapproving glares Madam Pomfrey sent his way, it couldn't be anything good.

He tried to talk to her once or twice, but she didn't as much as looked at him and eventually he gave up. So when _Professor Prewett_ , the cause for the stupid little bicker between them that their wolves turned into so much more, arrived to visit, he was more than upset to discover she wasn't sending him away.

At a matter of fact, he might have even dwelled at that, had he not been distracted by the words that _did_ came out of her mouth.

"I want my mum," she said, and his heart broke.

He did this to her. It was his entire fault. If he'd just kept his mouth shut and didn't let the closeness of the full moon affect him the way it had, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't have been at the state she was currently in and she might have even spoken to him.

And because of that, he pushed every last bit of jealousy he felt aside. He let their professor calm her down and sooth her, and the older wizard succeeded where both Remus and Madam Pomfrey failed, convincing the witch to fall asleep.

Then, with nothing more than a look of disapproval towards Remus, he left the Hospital Wing.

Remus stayed another day at the Infirmary before being released back to classes, but Emerald had to stay there, as she was too weak to do anything other than lie in bed. He tried to visit her one afternoon but Madam Pomfrey sent him away.

There was nothing left for him to do other than sink in self-hatred, hope his friends wouldn't notice his bad mood, look at the other werewolf's name at the Marauder's Map and try to ignore how many times the name _'Gideon Prewett'_ was right beside _'Hermione Granger'_.

* * *

"I have good news!" Gideon beamed as he walked into the Hospital Wing.

It was already the first day of the Christmas holidays, and Hermione was _finally_ free to go. She paused in the middle of changing into her normal clothes to give him a peck on the lips before asking, "What happened?"

"Molly just replied on my letter – You're invited to Christmas at the Burrow."

"What?" Hermione asked, surprised and amazed. "You didn't tell me you were asking her! Did she really say yes? Gid, that's amazing!"

"That's not even all of it," Gideon said. "There's an Order meeting a couple of days before the new term starts. It's the night before the full moon and Dumbledore said you could join."

"But…" she looked at him, trying to understand all of those good news. "But I'm not in the Order."

"You've been through more than some of the members have," he reminded her. "You have every right to be at the meeting, even Dumbledore said."

"That's… Thank you!" she called, jumping on him and kissing him. "Best Christmas present _ever_!"

"Are you coming, then?" he asked. "I told Molly we'll be there around three, and you need to pack your bag."

"I'm going!" she said, running outside. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

If only for the look of pure joy on her face as she ran out of the Infirmary, the true happiness he hadn't seen since before the last full moon, he knew it was worth it. It was even worth fighting with Dumbledore.

For the old Headmaster wasn't _nearly_ as supportive about Emerald joining the Order meeting as Gideon made it sound.

"She's underage," he had said.

"Only officially," Gideon replied. "She's over nineteen."

"She's too young," the Headmaster insisted.

"We were just as young when we joined," Gideon told him.

"But you were _Aurors-in-training_ ," Dumbledore replied. "You were well prepared, practiced and –"

"Oh, stop it, will you?" Fabian interrupted, talking for the first time since he entered the Headmaster's office with his brother. "She's more prepared than most of the Order members are now. She already fought in war, a _real_ war. Don't make her seem like a stupid teenager who can't protect herself and just let her come."

And so, it was settled that Emerald would join.

Gideon knew he was taking a huge risk. He knew that only _talking_ and _hearing_ about the war that was going on could remind Emerald of the war in her time, and of everything she went through.

 _If it will, we would deal with it,_ he decided. _At the moment, all that matters is her happiness._

And happy she was indeed.

"I suppose you are Miss Grey?" Molly asked with a smile when Gideon, Fabian and Hermione walked through the door.

"Please, call me Emerald," she replied. "Or even Hermione. It would be too weird if you call me Emerald."

"Of course, dear," Molly smiled at her, motherly. "My, my, you are most certainly too thin. Don't they ever feed you?"

Tears immediately rose to Hermione's eyes and she jumped on Molly with a hug.

"Did I say something wrong?" Molly asked, surprised.

"No," the younger witch whispered. "You said just the right thing."

The rest of the visit flew by. Dinners with the Weasleys, playtimes with Bill and Charlie, and stealing moments alone with Gideon. It was so much like every other holiday she spent at the Burrow, and it made it all so amazing that she didn't even feel the heartbreak.

Before she knew it, Christmas Day arrived, and Hermione woke up to a small pile of presents next to her bed, immediately causing tears to rise to her eyes. Then again, nowadays almost everything caused tears to rise to her eyes.

Smiling softly, she started unwrapping her presents. Lily gave her all kinds of sweets. James, Sirius and Peter gave her joke products. Remus gave her a book – "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" – and she smiled sadly.

She wasn't angry with him, not any more, at least, but she still felt hurt with the way he treated her. She also knew he was giving himself hell for what Moony did, and she was sad for that. He couldn't control the wolf, yet he blamed himself for everything the wolf did.

Fabian gave her books about Defense, Molly knitted a sweater from her and Arthur, and from Gideon she received a lovely necklace.

When she went down for breakfast, Hermione was already wearing normal clothes, the sweater on top of them, and the necklace was shining on her neck.

"Hello, love," Gideon said, planting a kiss on her lips. "Slept well?"

"As good as it can get," she said. "Thank you for the present, it's beautiful. Thanks to all of you," she said, looking at the people who sat in the kitchen.

"Don't mention it, dear," Molly said as she put pancakes on the table.

"It's really been our pleasure, Hermione," Arthur added, smiling. "You're the only one who can stand Charlie when he's talking about animals."

"It's really alright, Mr. – Arthur," Hermione corrected herself. "He really is adorable."

"Auntie Mere!" the four year old in question called. "Thank you for the dragon!"

He waved the toy dragon in his hand and Hermione smiled.

"No problem, honey," she said. "Do you know what dragon is it?"

"Hugarian Horntail!"

" _Hungarian_ ," she corrected. "Maybe later you can tell me all about him?" The boy nodded enthusiastically and Hermione turned back to the other adults. "He really is adorable," she smiled.

"I don't think he loved any of our presents as much as he loved yours," Fabian told her, smiling as well.

"It _does_ help that I know how he'll turn in the future," Hermione said.

"I suggest you be careful," Gideon said as he wrapped his arm around her. "He'll develop a crush on you if you're not."

"Scared of a little competition?" she asked him, playfully.

"Me? Scared?" Gideon looked at her with shock. "Never!"

"Of course not," Hermione said.

"Are you suggesting otherwise?"

"No, no," Hermione couldn't help but smile. "Why would I?"

"Oh, stop it, you two," Fabian called. "Some of us are trying to _eat_ here!"

Hermione laughed at that and kissed the frown off Gideon's face before turning back to her food.

* * *

"If you will please all sit down!" Dumbledore called and silence fell in the guest room of Potter Manor.

A _Manor_. Hermione wondered, not for the first time that evening, if Harry knew he had a Manor, and if so, why didn't he ever tell any of them?

It could have been terribly useful during the hunt for the Horcruxes. Then again, they had to consider the possibility that Voldemort and the Death Eaters knew of this house's existence, and were as prepared for their arrival here as they were at Godric's Hollow.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said, smiling at the crowd.

From the corner of her eye, Hermione thought she saw a movement but she overruled it as her tired imagination as she leaned on Gideon's shoulder. The full moon was tomorrow night, and it was taking every bit of strength she had.

"We have several things we wish to discuss today," the Headmaster went on. "First of all, I would like to introduce to those who haven't met her before – Miss Emerald Grey." Hermione nodded her head tiredly at the curious glances that were sent her way, but didn't speak. "Now that it's covered, Alastor, your update?"

"Thank you, Albus," Mad-Eye grumped as he stood up and started talking about people within the ministry whom he had thought to be Death Eaters and such. After about five minutes, he seemed to be done but Hermione stopped him.

"Malfoy," she said. "Lucius Malfoy, he's a Death Eater."

"Are you certain, child?" McGonagall asked and Hermione couldn't help but smile sadly at her Professor.

"Certain of it, ma'am," she said. "It would be nearly impossible to prove, but I would still be careful with what you say when he's nearby."

"Thank you, Emerald," Dumbledore said in a fatherly manner and the meeting resumed.

Hermione didn't have much to say from that point onwards. She listened to people talk about their missions, but didn't say anything, and tried her hardest not to think about the fact that in five years, most of the people in this room would be dead.

When the meeting was over, she stood up gracefully and headed towards Mrs. Potter, trying to ignore that odd movement at the corner of her eye yet again.

"Thank you for your hospitality," she said.

"No trouble, dear," Dorea replied. "I wanted to speak to you – Dumbledore informed me of your… condition, and young Mr. Lupin is here for the holiday, and will spend the full moon at the forests around the mansion. I wanted to tell you that you are more than welcome to join him, if you'd like."

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea," Hermione replied, thinking about the last full moon she shared with Remus.

"Well, the offer still stands," Dorea said. "And it must be better than spending the full moon on your own, isn't it?"

"We must be going now," Gideon barged in, saving Hermione from the need to reply. "Thank you for the offer, Dorea."

"You're welcome," the woman replied. "Please do think about it, Emerald."

"I will," Hermione said before turning back to Gideon. "I'm tired," she told him, resting her head on his chest.

"I know you are, love," he said. "Let's get you back to the Burrow, shall we?"

She nodded and kissed him quickly before the two of them disappeared in the green flames.

From across the room, four teenagers watched the exchange from underneath the invisibility cloak. Silently and carefully, they walked their way back to James' room before taking off the cloak.

"I can't believe it!" James called.

"Which part?" Sirius asked. "The fact that they allowed her to be at the meeting despite the fact she's still a student or the fact that she's dating Professor Gideon?"

"Both!" James said. "It's not fair! Why is she allowed to be there and we need to use the cloak to hear what they've got to say?"

"And how did she know that Malfoy was a Death Eater?" Peter questioned. "Besides common logic, that is."

"I wonder what she talked to my mom about," James mused. "Moony, did you hear something?"

"What?" the werewolf asked after being ripped from his thoughts.

"Are you even here?" Sirius questioned. "Did you hear what we've said?"

"Something about Emerald," Remus replied and his three friends shook their heads in disbelieve.

"I asked if you heard what she talked to my mom about," James repeated.

"No," Remus lied, going back to thinking about the conversation he overheard. "It was too… crowded."

Emerald, spending the full moon with him and his friends. It could have been a great idea, a brilliant idea, if not for the fact that he knew she wouldn't agree. Not after what happened the last full moon.

"I'm going to sleep," he said. "Full moon tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night, mate," James said.

"Dream about good-looking birds," Sirius added with a smile.

Little did he know, there was only one woman who visited his friend's dreams, and she did so every night.


	11. Part 1, Chapter 11

**A/N:** **Lemme just put this here... Quick reminder that this Wednesday's update is on time, but starting next week updates are on Tuesdays :)**

* * *

That full moon, Moony was impatient. He kept raising his head at every odd sound, not warily but rather almost as though he was awaiting something to happen. About an hour after the moon rose, something apparently did.

The werewolf started running into the depths of the forest near the Potter Mansion. The stag and dog that accompanied him exchanged worried looks but followed him nonetheless, a rat resting on the stag's head. After about ten minutes of running, they paused at the sight that was revealed to them.

A pitch-black wolf was looking at their grey friend cautiously. It shifted its eyes to look at the uninvited guests before turning back to Moony.

The werewolf slowly approached the foreign wolf, and the Animagi tensed. But the black wolf seemed not to attack or run away, but rather cower away from Moony, as if it expected to be attacked by him. Moony reached the black wolf and slowly, carefully, licked its nose.

The Marauders were so shocked they barely noticed the way the black wolf's mood seemed to lighten up as the two wolves ran in a circle before stopping to look at them.

The black wolf looked at them with worry, but Moony licked its ear in encouragement. It neared them, first going towards Padfoot, the biggest threat of the trio. They turned in a circle, observing each other, before the dog let out a happy bark. Padfoot approved.

The black wolf then looked at the stag and rat before turning back to the other canines.

 _'Really?'_ it seemed to ask and Moony did the wolf equivalent of shrugging.

The wolf returned it by the same coin before jumping back on him and playfully but carefully wrestling with him.

As Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs looked at them, they could have sworn those two were long-lost friends.

* * *

The next morning, Remus woke up bandaged and sore at James' room at Potter Mansion. He vaguely remembered waking up earlier in the forest and watching someone being carried away, but ruled it out as only being his imagination.

At least, he did so until Sirius jumped at him.

"It looks like Moony was extra-friendly last night," the dog Animagus smiled.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Last night, at the forest, Moony started running," James said with a wolfish smile.

"You didn't hurt anybody," Peter chimed in. "But you did meet a very lovely friend."

"Another wolf," James clarified.

"Pitch black and _beautiful_ ," Sirius commented. "I didn't know you were such a heart-breaker that your _wolf_ gets bitches."

"There was another wolf?" Remus asked, ignoring his friend's comment.

"You bet it," James said. "At a certain point we just left you two alone." He winked. "To get more… acquainted."

The three Animagi burst into laughter and Remus couldn't help but smile.

"There was another wolf?" he asked again.

"How many times do we have to say it?" Sirius asked. "Yes, there was another wolf."

"She came," Remus mumbled, drifting back to sleep and leaving his friends confused and curious. "She came."

* * *

The next few months went by very quickly.

Remus and Emerald had made an agreement upon never, ever, going through a full moon when they're mad at somebody – especially each other.

"We only hurt each other," Emerald said, and Remus was so glad he had received her forgiveness he couldn't do anything but nod in agreement.

The Marauders, however curious they were about the black wolf, didn't ask their werewolf friend any questions, thinking that he would tell them when he would be ready.

They didn't care that much for Emerald, though, and questioned her about her relationship with their professor and her presence at the Order meeting for weeks before she threatened that one more word about it would force her to tell on them sneaking into the meeting.

Hermione, in the meanwhile, spent most of her free time in the library, further researching time travel. What with all of the stress over her lycanthropy, meeting people who were dead and trying to find her place at a time when she wasn't even born yet, she hadn't made and proper research on the subject.

It was around the end of January when she found a book in the restricted section that explained more than all of the other books combined. _This information can change everything_ , she realized.

Or, rather, won't change anything. As that was what the book said. Small events could be meddled with, but any big event is a fixed point in time and she couldn't change it even if she wanted to.

She can't stop people from dying. The only reason she had information that could prevent their deaths was that they died. Therefore, if she prevented their deaths, she would never know they died and couldn't prevent their deaths.

All of the major events – the Potters' deaths, Sirius' imprisonment, Pettigrew's betrayal and Voldemort's second rising – were fixed points that led to the situation that sent her back in time, and therefore were crucial for the current situation to exist. She couldn't change it, because then she wouldn't be able to change it.

The bottom line was that there was nothing she could do about anything. Well, almost nothing. And so she started planning.

Things seemed to be going smoothly and uninterrupted, until the day before Remus' seventeenth birthday.

It was the first day of the two werewolves back at the school after the last full moon, and they decided not to sit in the library but go outside and enjoy the few warm days at the beginning of March. Therefore, when the three other Marauders searched their regular corner and didn't find them there, they looked for them at the map.

Sirius was, to say the least, furious.

"You lying, manipulative, _bitch_!" he screamed once he reached the spot where she sat next to his best friend near the lake, James and Peter following close behind.

"Sirius, what happened?" Remus asked, while Emerald was too shocked to speak.

"This!" Sirius called, waving the Marauder's Map in the air. " _This_ is what happened. We were looking for the two of you and what did we find? Little Miss Liar here, _lied_ about her name!"

"Sirius, please," James said. "Let her explain herself. There might be a –"

"A reasonable explanation?" Sirius asked. "All right. Let's hear it out. See?" he asked when Emerald didn't seem able to form words. "There is no explanation."

"Sirius," Remus said warningly.

"No!" Sirius said. "She _lied_ to us! For all we know, she could be working for You-Know-Who."

"She isn't," Remus insisted.

"How can you tell?" Sirius said. "All she ever did was lie! You don't even know her real name!"

"Hermione Granger."

Sirius paused at his spot, looking at his friend with astonishment. "What?"

"Hermione Granger," Remus repeated. "That's her name. That's what you saw on the map."

"How did you know?" Peter asked, shocked.

"Because I saw it, too," he explained. "First weekend of the school year. But, unlike you _dolt_ , instead of running around and screaming at her, I actually –"

A branch fell from a tree nearby, and Emerald's hand flew to her mouth as she regained her ability to speak.

"In case you have forgotten," she somehow managed to say, "there was a fair amount of screaming involved when you found out, as well." She looked at the branch that fell dangerously near Peter's head. "Sorry," she mumbled at his direction.

"It's okay?" he asked, rather than said.

"You've been keeping it from us?" James called out, suddenly angry as well. "Why?"

"Because she's entitled to have her secrets," Remus said, echoing the words she told him just a couple of months ago. "Just as _we_ have our own."

"It's not the same thing," Sirius said.

"It's exactly the same thing," Emerald replied. "There's more to it than you even know."

"That's exactly what's scaring me here!" he called out. "I have no idea who you are, what side you're at, _anything_! So let me tell you this." He neared her until he was dangerously close. "If I find out you're working for You-Know-Who…"

"And you just disappear every month," Peter said.

"I'm visiting my sister," she said.

"You've never told us your sister's name," James added.

"Luna," Remus said at the same time Emerald called, "Ginny."

"Are you seriously trying to _help_ her?" Sirius asked Remus in disbelief.

"I have a cousin who works at St. Mango's and he said there is nobody with the last name 'Grey' there," Peter added.

"You're supposed to be smart!" Emerald yelled, causing a couple of more branches to fall by their side as her magic lost control. "Remus always says the best things about you but you're terrible!"

"We're not the ones who lied, Hermione."

A splash of water came out of the lake and fell on the five of them as Emerald fell to the ground and covered her head with her hands.

Sirius died nearly three years ago. How can he still be here to call her 'Hermione'?

"Pretty Thing. Beautiful. Mudblood. Filth. Mine. Grey. Emerald."

Remus sighed as he crouched down next to her.

"It's okay," he whispered in her ear. "It's okay. You're safe now."

"What is she mumbling?" James asked, suddenly worried, and Emerald raised her head to look at him.

"You are a bunch of insolent children," she whispered poisonously. "You think you know everything, but you don't. Not even close." She turned her head and looked at Sirius. "I owe you nothing. The sooner you get that, the better."

"Emerald…" Remus whispered.

"Get your friends in check, Remus," Hermione said. "I care about you, but my past is none of their business," she finished before walking away.

She didn't want the castle. She didn't want the memories it held and, for the first time, she didn't want Gideon. So instead, she walked to the hut at the forest edge and knocked on the door.

"Hello, Hagrid," she greeted weakly when he opened the door. "Mind if I come in?"

* * *

As soon as Emerald disappeared from sight, Remus jumped on Sirius.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" he called.

"I was thinking that she was lying to us," Sirius replied, just as angry.

"You could have _talked_ about it!" Remus told him. "You could have nicely _asked_! You could have gone to Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey or even Hagrid – each of them would have told you!"

"Told us _what_?" Sirius asked. "Because so far, all I've seen is a pissed off witch with very unstable magic that had lied to us and kept secrets from us. And you've been helping her!"

"You don't understand!" Remus called.

"Because she won't tell us anything!" James replied.

"Not that!" Remus said. "About me! You don't understand _me_!"

That caused all three Marauders to pause. "What?" Peter asked, confused.

"You do your best to help me," Remus whispered. "You're there with me most moons, and you're supporting me but in the end, when my body is tearing itself to pieces, I'm alone. I _was_ alone."

Realization came across Sirius' face, causing him to fall to the ground and hide his face in shame. "No," he whispered.

"That full moon in September was her first moon," Remus said. "She's lost, and scared, and traumatized…"

"Her magic is highly unstable," James said. "I've seen it a couple of times with old friends of my dad's… People who were held prisoners for days by dark wizards."

"A werewolf pack," Remus whispered. "One month. And she was Crucio'd for hours right before."

"Wha- What did they do to her?" Peter asked.

"I didn't ask," Remus admitted. "And even if I did, I don't think she'd tell."

* * *

"I don't know what to do!" Hermione wept into a handkerchief the size of her robe. "I'm just trying to move on, to build myself again, but every time I think like I'm getting there, something bad happens!"

"T's okay," Hagrid said, trying to rub circles on her back but rather rubbing circles at all of her backside. "Things'll get better eventually. They always do, ye'll see."

"When?" Hermione asked. "I've been here for six months and that ache in my heart still feels like it's a day old."

"Cause that's what happens," Hagrid said. "Losing people the way ye did… t's hard. And t's goin' ter get a lot worse before it'll get better, but it will."

"I can't do it anymore," Hermione whispered. "I can't let things get better only to run away crying every three months."

"Then don't run cryin' ev'ry three months," Hagrid said logically.

"You make it sound so easy," she said, half a smile on her face as she accepted the tea she was offered, wisely turning back the rock-hard cookies.

"T's easy if ye make it easy," the half-giant replied. "Don't let them get ter ye."

She sat there in silence, slowly drinking her tea as she merely enjoyed the comfort of the familiarity she was receiving.

"Your name is cleared," she said right before she headed outside.

"What?" Hagrid asked, confused.

"In my time," she explained, "your name is cleared from opening the chamber of secrets. I know telling you about your own future is probably not a good thing, but I thought you ought to know. Give you something to wait for."

"Thanks," he said, amazed.

"I should head back to the castle," she said. "Thank you for the tea and company."

"Any time, Emerald," Hagrid said warmly, closing the door and sitting down. "Ye stupid Marauders, when I see ye again…"


	12. Part 1, Chapter 12

**A/N:** **I know... I'm a terrible, horrible person... I honestly have no excuse for not posting this one... Hope you'd like it!**

* * *

That night, Hermione had the weirdest dream she could ever recall. Unlike her usual nightmares, this dream didn't make her wake up in screams, but in silent tears.

 _She was walking down the stairs at Grimmauld Place, heading towards the kitchen for a glass of water. When she walked through the door, she saw Remus – Professor Lupin – crying and Sirius comforting him._

 _"I just miss her so much," her former professor said._

 _"I know," Sirius replied._

 _"It's been sixteen years," he cried._

 _Sirius looked up from his friend and locked eyes with Hermione._ Go away _, he mouthed to her and she was so shocked and surprised she didn't even argue._

 _Slowly, she walked up the stairs and back to the room she shared with Ginny, and fell asleep._

She woke up at her bed in Gryffindor tower, sad and confused.

This dream… it wasn't just a dream. It seemed more like a memory but she couldn't remember it ever happening to her.

She got dressed, still thinking about it, and went down to the Great Hall. As usual, it was nearly empty, so she nibbled on some toast until Lily joined her.

They small-talked for a couple of minutes before Hermione heard familiar voices and turned to see the four Marauders walking into the Hall, Remus wearing a make-shift crown that said, 'Birthday Boy'.

"Emerald," Lily said. "Emerald," she repeated as the other witch ignored her. "Emerald!"

"What?" Hermione replied, angrily.

"Your glass is shaking."

Hermione looked at her glass and saw that, sure enough, pumpkin juice was spilling all over the table.

"Sorry," she muttered as the glass came to a halt.

"Don't be," Lily said kindly. "Just tell me who did that to you and I will go punch them in the nose."

"Potter, Black and Pettigrew," Hermione said without thinking.

"Of course it's them," Lily sighed. "When is it ever _not_ them?"

"It's Remus' birthday today," Hermione commented.

"Happy birthday, we start the day with double Potions," Lily murmured.

"Some people love Potions," Hermione mused, thinking back to the plan she was working on for the past couple of weeks and how no fight with Sirius would stop her from going through with the final part of it today.

"There's _Snivellus_ in Potions," Lily said poisonously.

Hermione didn't know what the deal was between Snape and Lily. She did know that the Marauders hated him from what seemed to be day one but that Lily was good friends with him until the end of last year.

She didn't know what happened and, to be honest, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

The two girls finished breakfast and walked towards the boys. Hermione could see Remus trying to take the crown off his head and Sirius saying something to him, causing the werewolf to growl in anger and the other Marauders to burst into laughter.

"Happy birthday, Remus!" Lily called happily.

"Happy birthday," Hermione smiled softly, avoiding the eyes of the other Marauders.

"Thank you," Remus said politely, avoiding Hermione's eyes as well. "We should probably head to Potions," he commented.

"Let's go," Lily smiled and the group headed towards Potion's class.

Conversation didn't flow. Sirius and James didn't seem to know how to act near Hermione, she was too scared to try and talk to Remus, and Lily acted as if the wrong word from any of the boys would make her hex them to oblivion.

Silently, they all reached the Potions' classroom and walked inside, Hermione taking a deep, calming breath as usual.

"Today we will work on antidotes," Professor Slughorn said in his usual cheerful tone. "You will be divided into pairs for this task… Black and Avery." The two boys sent hate-filled looks at the other's direction. "Potter and Mulciber. Evans and Lupin." Both Lily and Remus sighed in relief. "Grey and Snape."

The pairing continued but Hermione's heart clenched in fear. It would be the first real conversation between herself and her future professor, who already didn't seem to like her much after the Felix Felicis incident at the beginning of the year. Silently, she picked her bag and set down next to him, avoiding his eyes as she did.

Each pair was granted with a mixture of poisons and they had until the end of the double class to create a powerful antidote to it. Hermione, who already had that task during her first sixth year, waved her wand in a spiral movement, causing the different poisons to separate themselves.

Snape, on the other hand, seemed rather bored. From the corner of her eye, she could see him scribbling in his book – the Half Blood Prince's book.

"Are you planning to _help_ anytime soon?" she asked him.

"Not particularly, no," he replied. "All of these poisons –"

"Could be cured with a bezoar, yes, I know," Hermione cut him off impatiently. "But we are tested for our _brewing_ abilities."

"And not for the _understanding_ of the subject," Snape said, annoyed. "I can understand why we couldn't do it at the beginning – most of the students here wouldn't tell a Moonstone from a Rubi – but now that we're at the advanced class…"

 _Apparently, he was always as stuck up as he is in the future._

"I don't think Potter and Black could tell a Moonstone from a Rubi and they're here," Hermione said bitterly, causing Snape to look at her with newfound appreciation.

"Perhaps you're not as bad as I thought you to be, hanging out with Potter and his _gang_ ," he said.

"I don't hang out with Potter, and certainly not with his gang," Hermione said. "Only with Remus."

"Did he leave Potter's gang and I missed it?" Snape asked. "If not, it means you're with the gang."

"Forget about the potion, we're going to need an antidote for the poison in your voice," Hermione muttered and Snape smiled.

"Certainly not as bad as I thought you to be," he said, and Hermione smiled back.

* * *

"She's laughing," Remus muttered, looking at Emerald and Snape.

"She's allowed to laugh," Lily replied. "Watch the fire."

"She's laughing with _Snivellus_ ," he added.

"She's allowed to laugh with whoever she wants to."

"Next thing we know, she's going to befriend him."

"I was friends with him," Lily noted.

"Look how well _that_ turned out to be," Remus retorted. "If he calls her a You-Know-What…"

"Emerald's a muggle born?" Lily asked, surprised.

"You didn't know?" Remus asked.

"In case you've missed it, she doesn't talk much about herself," Lily said. "Watch the fire!"

Remus quickly cast a spell to lower the flames before their antidote would be ruined, and sent a quick glance across the room.

Sirius and Avery were nearly killing each other, as were James and Mulciber. Only Merlin knows what Slughorn was thinking, pairing them together.

Emerald, on the other hand, was smiling as she said something to Snape, who laughed in response.

"They're laughing again," he nearly growled.

"Still allowed to laugh," Lily muttered.

"Time's up, everybody!" Slughorn called. "Hand over your potions, please."

He passed between the rows, collecting each pair's antidote. A frown crossed his face at the brownish mass that was Sirius and Avery's potion, but his face lightened at seeing Emerald and Snape's.

"Very well, very well indeed," he told them. "Maybe I should pair you both more often!"

Emerald smiled proudly but Snape merely smirked, causing Remus to growl again. His growl, however, died as soon as the lesson was over and Emerald bid the greasy haired boy goodbye and ran to him.

"We've got Ancient Runes next," she told him cheerfully. "No point in waiting for the others, they're not taking the class."

"What else have we got today?" he asked her.

"Lunch and then Defense," she said. "Gid hinted there would probably be a Boggart, but I think it's better if the both of us won't try and fight it."

"Why not?"

"Are you sure you want the entire class to see what it would turn into?" she asked. "I know I don't. I don't think Gid and Fabe would mind if we wanted to stay after class for it, though," she added.

Remus nodded and followed her towards the Ancient Runes class.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Ancient Runes was always one of Remus' favorite classes and, as Emerald said, they covered Boggarts during DADA. At the end of the lesson, the two werewolves stayed and prepared to fight the monster.

"Ready?" Emerald asked.

"As I will ever be," Remus replied and she opened the box in which the Boggart hid.

She was certain it would turn to the full moon, as it did the one time she saw it already, but instead it turned into a pitch-black, wounded wolf who laid on the classroom floor. It took her a moment to realize it was her wolf form and that Moony had supposedly been the one to hurt her.

She felt touched and sad that his biggest fear was to hurt her but before she could overthink it he called, "Riddikulus!" and it was gone. Emerald smiled at him as she reached forward to take her turn, but the smile dropped as the Boggart took its form.

"Hello, beautiful," Fenrir Greyback growled as he neared her. "Delicious girl… What a treat…"

Both she and Remus were frozen on the spot, neither of them able to move a muscle until Emerald fell to the ground.

"Get out!" Professor Prewett – one of them – called and Remus was quick to oblige, taking his bag and running out.

Greyback. Her Boggart is Greyback. How can that be possible?

"Mate, are you okay?"

He jumped at the sound of Sirius' voice.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," James added.

"I think I might've," he replied. "I don't think Emerald will join us for dinner."

James and Sirius exchanged worried glances. "Are you sure?"

"Quite positive," he mumbled and they walked away.

* * *

Hermione insisted she could leave as soon as she was able to stop crying.

It was Remus' birthday, for Merlin's sake! She had too many plans for the evening to stay here.

He first stop was the Kitchens.

"Hello, Toddy," she greeted the ever-eager elf. "Do you have the cake ready?"

"Yes, Miss, right away, Miss," Toddy said with a bow as she turned away.

Hermione still felt bad for the slavery the house-elves were subjected to, but the more time she spent in the kitchen the more she realized they really loved it. She still insisted on thanking them whenever she could, but she also decided that trying to force them to become free would do no good.

As she looked around the kitchen, though, she couldn't miss the fact that there were _two_ chocolate cakes, when she had only requested one.

"Toddy, what's this?" she asked.

"A cake for Master Sirius," Toddy said. "Him to be asking for a cake for tonight, Miss."

She should have known she wasn't the only one who thought of bringing Remus a chocolate cake.

"Toddy, can you do me a favor?" she asked, defeated.

"Anything, Miss," the elf replied.

"Are there any students at Hogwarts whose birthday is tomorrow?"

"One, Miss," Toddy said.

"I want you to surprise them with my cake tomorrow," Hermione said. "Do you think you can do that?"

"Miss isn't to be needing her cake?"

"No, Toddy," Hermione sighed. "Goodnight."

The first part of the evening didn't go as planned. All she could hope for is that the second part would be better.

There was a big birthday party for Remus in the Gryffindor tower, arranged by the other Marauders. When everybody started getting back to their rooms, Hermione caught Remus' arm.

"Can you meet me at the seventh floor corridor in half an hour?" she asked him.

"Emerald, it would be midnight," he said.

"Late birthday present," she smiled. "Could you?"

Remus sighed in defeat. "Of course," he said.

"Great," Hermione smiled, leaving the Common Room already and leaving a very confused Remus behind her.


	13. Part 1, Chapter 13

**A/N:** **I totaly forgot I was supposed to upload this yeaterday! So so sorry...**

 **Short chapter, I know, but it includes a lot of explaining on Hermione's side as to what she had been through and what she knows about time travel.**

 **I hope you'd like it! :)**

* * *

Remus arrived at the seventh floor corridor at two minutes to midnight, and Emerald wasn't in sight. He stayed there for a minute before moving to search the near corridor. When he was back, not even a minute later, Emerald stood in front of him, next to a door that appeared, as if from nowhere, in the middle of the wall.

"What…" Remus was unable to form words. "How…"

"Come," was all Emerald said, reaching out a hand he held without hesitation.

They walked through a door to see a nicely decorated living room. Emerald walked straight to the sofa and he sat in front of her, astounded.

"Where are we?" he finally managed.

"Technically, the Room of Requirements," Emerald replied. "Right now it looks like the Burrow's living room."

"Why?"

"Because it relaxes me, and I needed to be relaxed for what's about to follow," she said.

"My birthday present?" he questioned and she nodded.

"First of all," she said carefully, "I need you to promise me that nothing I tell you tonight leaves this room. You can't tell anybody – and I mean anybody. Not even the other Marauders."

"Okay?" he asked, rather than said.

"Say it," she insisted. "I need to hear you say it."

"I won't tell anybody," he said and she visibly relaxed, taking a small vial out of her pocket.

"What's that?" he questioned.

"Veritaserum," she replied. "But that's not the present." She opened the vial and drank it. "That is."

"Emerald, what are you doing?" Remus called.

"I drank Veritaserum so you could ask me whatever you want," she said. "That's my birthday present to you."

"How did you even get Veritaserum?" he asked.

"I made it," she said. "I made Polyjuice on my second year, so I thought it couldn't be that hard, could it?"

"You actually drank Veritaserum?" he questioned, amazed.

"Yes."

"So I could ask you whatever I want?"

"Yes."

"Why do you trust me so much?"

Emerald was clearly taken by surprise with his question. Not as much, though, as they both were with her answer.

"I don't know."

Remus raised a brow. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"It's a combination of a lot of things," she muttered.

"How can be a combination of so many things?" he questioned. "We've only known each other for a couple of months –"

"No we haven't," she cut him off. "I've known you since I was thirteen when you drove away the Dementor on the train."

"Thirteen?" he repeated, confused. "I don't even know how to do a Patronus today – I was only eleven at the time."

"No, you weren't," she said. "You were around thirty-three."

Remus looked at her with shock for a couple of minutes in which she shifted in her spot, clearly uncomfortable before he rediscovered his ability to speak.

"Emerald," he said carefully, "when were you born?"

"September 19th, 1979," Emerald replied.

"1979?" Remus repeated. "But that's only in two years! How can that be possible?"

"Time travel."

"Are you sure that was Veritaserum?" he asked her. "Maybe it was… I don't know…"

"Essence of Insanity?" Emerald asked, amused. "No, I'm very certain it was Veritaserum."

Remus took himself a couple of moments to process what she had just said. To be honest with himself, as crazy as it sounded, it made a lot of sense for Emerald to be from the future. It explained how she knew so much about Dumbledore, possibly even the strange way she treated him and the other Marauders, if she knew them, as she implied.

It would also explain how she knew Greyback, though the thought of him still being active in close to twenty years sent shivers down Remus' spine.

"So, you're from the future?" he asked.

"So I've said," she replied.

"Just making sure," he muttered. "And… you know us? In the future? The Marauders?"

"Yes," she said. "But please don't ask me too much questions about it… it wouldn't change anything, either way."

"Wouldn't change anything?" he asked, amazed. "Emerald, you can change it all! You can stop You-Know-Who, you can –"

"No, I can't," she said. "You can't change anything big. Small things, yes, but not anything life changing. Everything I saw happening has already happened and will happen. Even if I told you now the way to beat Voldemort, you wouldn't be able to do it. I can't save anybody. I can't kill people I know would do bad things. Even if I tried, _it wouldn't work_." She looked at him. "I can't stop the pain. And it's killing me."

"Did you see yourself?" he asked. "In the future."

"Even if I did, I didn't recognize myself," she replied. "And I don't think I did."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because as of September 19th, 1979, there will be two of me. Time wouldn't let that happen."

"But you've met me?"

"I have."

Realization came upon Remus. "So when you said James looked like one of your best friends…"

"His son," Emerald verified.

A goofy smile crossed his face. "So he finally gave up on Lily, did he?"

"No, he didn't," she found herself saying, despite her best attempts at holding it in, causing Remus' eyes to open even wider.

"Prongs and Lily?" he asked and she nodded. "Prongs… you knew what the nicknames were saying all along, didn't you?"

"They're Animagi," Emerald said. "Prongs for the stag, Wormtail's a rat and Padfoot is a dog. And, Moony, of course. The wolf."

"And Luna," he said with a smile. "That's how I call your wolf form in my head," he answered her questioning look as color rose up his cheeks. "So," he started again, clearing his throat, "who else do you know in the future?"

"Most of the teachers," Emerald said, "Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Tonks –"

"Tonks?"

"Ny- Nymphadora Tonks," Emerald said, this time color rising up _her_ cheeks. "Molly and Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, Ron and Ginny."

"I lost you at 'Fred'," Remus laughed.

"They're just gonna keep going until they've got a girl," she said. "Ron's my year, Ginny's one under us, and Fred and George should be born next April. Of course, there's also Malfoy and Crouch – Senior and Junior at _both_ cases – Mundungus Fletcher, Mrs. Figg, Igor Karkaroff, Greyback – as you saw today – Narcissa Malfoy, Snape and…" She hesitated for a moment but eventually didn't really have a choice. "Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Bellatrix?" Remus repeated and she flinched. It took him a moment to understand he growled. "What did she –"

"Please don't," Emerald said. "Please –"

"What did she do?"

"Tortured me," the words came out of her mouth against her will as tears dripped from her eyes by the same manner. "She carved on my arm… before she handed me over to Greyback."

This time around, he was well aware of the raged growl that left his mouth. "She did _what_?"

"She interrogated me," Emerald said. "Please don't ask me about this. Please, show I didn't trust you for nothing."

"Okay," he said. "I won't ask." He thought for a couple of moments about his next question before his childish side got the better of him. "Are you really dating Gideon?"

"Yes," Emerald replied, not quite comfortable with the subject but grateful for the change nonetheless.

"How long?" he questioned.

"Since I've met Bellatrix at Hogsmeade," she said. "I came back here, crying, and Gid comforted me."

"Why?"

"Because he's safe," she said. "For now, at least. He's what I need now."

"Why _him_?" Remus asked. "Why not… Why not _me_?"

"Because I saw your future," she said.

"You can't change it," he countered.

"Still," she insisted. "It's not the same. I can change small things. I can't risk that."

"Why?" he questioned. "Why is it okay to meddle with his future but not with mine?"

"Because he doesn't have a future!"

Remus looked at Emerald, shocked and confused. "What?" he asked.

"Gideon and Fabian Prewett never made it through the first war," Emerald said, eyes shining with tears. "I don't know exactly when it happened, only that it was after you guys joined the Order."

"Does he know?" Remus questioned.

"I told him over Christmas," Emerald said. "He… He said he knows I want to try to change it, but that I can't. Not only because I _can't_ , since I only found out about that later, but that he won't let me."

"I'm sorry," he said truthfully.

"Me, too," she said, choking on her words.

Silence fell over them for a minute before he spoke again.

"Why did you tell me all of this?" he asked.

"Because I'm starting to really care about you," she said. "I don't want to lie to you or to keep secrets – more than I have to. And I have to. I have to keep so many secrets – big secrets. And I hate myself for that."

"You shouldn't," he said softly.

"And you shouldn't stop yourself from love only because you're a werewolf, but you do," she countered.

"Not everyone is as accepting as Gideon," Remus muttered darkly.

"You _will_ find someone," Emerald said. "Trust me. You will love and be loved, if only you'd let yourself." She smiled sadly, as she remembered the conversation that took place at the Hospital Wing after Dumbledore's death. "Even if you think yourself to be too old, too poor, and too dangerous – someone else won't necessarily think so."

"What if I don't want to wait until then?" he asked. "What if I want something… now?"

The smile drifted off Emerald's face, replaced by sheer sadness.

"Some things," she said, "can bring nothing but heartache."

Her body visibly relaxed as the effects of the potion wore off. She smiled at him and he smiled back, before she noticed he was still wearing the hat from that morning.

"Sirius charmed it," he explained. "It can only come off once I've gotten a birthday kiss."

Laughing softly, Emerald leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Remus," she said, walking out of the room.

"Yeah," he muttered sadly to himself. "Nothing but heartbreak."


	14. Part 1, Chapter 14

**A/N:** **I uploaded this chapter on time! You have no idea how proud I am about this!**

 **Enjoy XD**

* * *

Remus didn't know how to act near Emerald after everything she told him. His emotions travelled between wanting to ask her a million questions he knew she couldn't – or wouldn't, more likely – answer, yell at her for not telling him sooner and simply holding her close and keeping her safe so that nothing else could hurt her.

Seeing as none of those options were a legitimate possibility, he decided to start small with making peace between his friends.

"I've got nothing to apologize for," she told him as they sat together in the library, four days after his birthday and her unusual gift. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"In his eyes, you did," he replied. "Come on, Emma – you _did_ lie about quite a lot of things."

Emerald paused for a moment in the middle of writing her essay, before going back to scribbling on the parchment.

"Emma?" she finally asked.

"It's a nickname," he shrugged.

"A _nickname_?"

"It's a Marauder thing," he said, as if it explained everything.

"In case you've somehow missed it," she said, looking through her book for something to add to the essay, "I'm all but a Marauder."

"You're an honorary Marauder," he waved his hand at her. "You were best friends with Prongs' son, you deserve it." A small smile crossed his lips. "I could always call you Luna."

Something shut down in Emerald's eyes. "I used to have a friend names Luna," she said sadly. "She was brilliant. A bit crazy, but brilliant."

"The best people are a bit crazy," he told her, a little too enthusiastically.

"And now you're just trying to suck up to me," she informed him.

"Is it working?" he asked.

Emerald sighed. "Do I have to do it?" she asked desperately, hoping with all her might that Remus would reply with a negative.

"It's an action to show goodwill," he replied instead.

"I acted on goodwill since the beginning of the year," she huffed. " _He's_ the one who –"

"Please?" Remus pleaded.

Again, Emerald sighed, putting down her quill and looking at her half-done Transfiguration essay, realizing that there was no way she would finish it today.

"He hates me," she finally said, trying not to show how much it bothered her. Sirius was always ever so nice to her, back home, and with him disliking her in this time…

"He doesn't hate you," Remus said. "He was just wary of you, because he didn't know anything about you and he thought that you might be working for You-Know-Who."

"Fear of the name increases the fear of the thing itself," she muttered.

"You're trying to change the subject."

"Is it working?" she asked hopefully.

"No," he sighed, though a smile showed up at the corner of his mouth. " _Please_? I'll make sure he apologizes, too."

"Sirius Black, apologizing?" Emerald snorted at the mere thought." Good luck with that."

"I'll make sure he'll be civilized?" Remus tried.

Her eyes bore into his, showing for the first time some of the coldness that was possibly the reason the other Marauders were wary of her.

"I won't apologize," she declared.

"Figured that much out," he replied.

"And I'm keeping the right to punch him at any time."

Remus smiled at that. "Deal."

* * *

Hermione walked into the Gryffindor Common Room, her mind anything but determined, but Remus following closely behind her and giving her the strength she needed. Hesitantly, she sat down at the couch opposite of Sirius', and cleared her throat to make sure he noticed her.

"Emerald," he said quickly, his eyes darting between her and Remus. "I mean, Hermione. I mean –"

Hermione looked at Remus, who sent her an encouraging smile.

"I realized we started on the wrong foot," she said carefully. "Let's try that again, shall we? I'm Hermione Jean Granger, also known as Emerald Grey. I am really a little over nineteen years old, but I never got the chance to finish my sixth year so Dumbledore agreed I'd start it over."

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I spent the last year and a half before Hogwarts on the run. I will _not_ answer questions about it, I will _not_ answer if you try to call me by my birth name and if you try to flirt with me I most certainly _will_ use a hex a friend of mine guaranteed kept her six older brothers in line." She looked at him worryingly. "Your turn."

Sirius looked at Remus questioningly, and the werewolf sent him a harsh glare.

"Sirius Orion Black," he finally said. "From the ancient and most noble house of Black. A bunch of small-minded idiots, if you ask me. I don't trust you," he sighed. "But I do trust Remus, so... I ran away from home last summer and moved in with my best mate, James. I will _not_ answer questions about my family, I will _not_ like it if you say I'm one of them and I most certainly _will_ try to flirt with you." He winked. "Just to find out more about that hex."

"Good luck with that," Remus laughed. "No matter how much I tease her, she won't use it on me."

"Don't worry," Hermione said with a smile. "If he keeps going the way he is now, you'll find out soon enough."

Sirius laughed, and Remus smiled, and for a moment, Hermione felt as if it couldn't be all too bad. That was, until Sirius spoke again.

"If I can't ask you about your life before Hogwarts, can I ask you about now?" he asked.

"Depends," she said carefully. "What do you want to know?"

"Are you and Professor Prewett really dating?"

He said it quietly, barely more than a whisper, but Hermione still looked around to make sure nobody else heard him before replying.

"I knew Gid before he was our professor," she replied, just as quietly as he asked. "And I've known his sister for years."

"How long before he was a professor did you know him?" Sirius questioned.

Hermione felt a blush slowly climbing up her face. "About an hour before he and Fabe signed the contract," she mumbled.

Sirius looked at her disbelievingly for a moment before throwing his head back, howling his bark-like laughter. _Merlin, did she miss this laughter._

"I honestly didn't see that one coming," he said once he calmed down enough to speak again.

"I'm full of surprises," she told him, before standing up and going to her room.

"I'm starting to understand what you see in her," Sirius told Remus.

"Back off," Remus growled, almost involuntarily.

"Yeah, she's yours, I know."

"She isn't _mine_ ," Remus said, bitterness slipping into his voice despite his best attempts. "She's dating _Gid_."

"I get it," Sirius said with a smile. "Werewolf jealousy?"

"Don't talk about it here!" Remus hissed, looking around with panic.

"Alright, alright," Sirius said with a smile. "But you know what they say about boyfriends."

"What do they say about boyfriends?" Remus asked, confused.

"Um…" Sirius rubbed his head, embarrassed. "I hoped you knew."

* * *

After making her peace with Sirius – and, by extant, the other Marauders – things moved swiftly for Hermione. Between Potions class with Severus, study time with Lily and Remus and spending the rest of the time with Gideon, the next month passed in a haze.

Soon, they were nearing another full moon and everything that was accompanied to it. Including, apparently, a surprising message Remus received from home.

"So after all those years you kept lying about your mum being sick during the full moon, your mum is actually sick on the full moon?" Sirius asked.

He was sitting with James, Remus and Hermione in the library while Peter was in detention and Hermione and Remus tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore the closeness of the moon and do their homework.

"Let's not talk about it," Remus muttered, rubbing his temples to relieve some of his pre-moon pains.

"Let's not talk at all," Hermione agreed, resting her head on the table and trying to decide if Madam Pince would kill her if she fell asleep in the library.

"When are you due to leave?" James asked with unmistaken concern.

"Tomorrow morning," Remus replied. "I don't know how long it would be, but I will spend the full moon and the recovery at home."

Hermione's head shot up, but she immediately regretted it as the world started spinning around her.

"You're going to miss the full moon?" she asked.

"Yeah," Remus said. "Why?"

"Nothing," Hermione said quickly, grabbing her bag and leaving quickly.

"What is it with her?" Sirius asked.

James looked at the both of them as if he was about to smack their heads.

"Remus got the full moon as an excuse to be an idiot," he told Sirius. "What's yours?"

"Oi!" Sirius called. "I'm not an idiot!"

"Really?" James asked. "So answer me this – When was Emerald bitten?"

"Right before the school year begun," Sirius replied proudly.

"Oh, no," Remus groaned. "Merlin, I didn't even think about it."

"Didn't think about what?"

"If Emerald was bitten right before the school year begun," James said slowly, as if he's explaining something to a child, "and she spent the full moon over Christmas with us…"

Sirius' eyes widened in understanding. "She never had a full moon alone," he muttered.

The three Marauders rose to their feet – Remus doing so more cautiously than his friends – and walked to Gryffindor tower where they saw Lily waiting at the bottom of the steps.

"Have you seen Emerald?" Sirius asked quickly.

"She came in and ran up to our room," Lily replied, before eyeing them suspiciously. "Why? What did you do?"

"We didn't do anything," James said. "Really!" he added in response to her disbelieving stare.

"I need to talk to her," Remus said, trying to come up with an excuse. "I need to tell her that I won't join her on the Knight Bus when she's visiting her sister because I'm leaving early this month."

"I'll tell her," Lily said, squinting her eyes. "Odd, isn't it? How the two of you always go to visit your families on the same days."

"Never mind that, Evans," Sirius said quickly, noting the way his friend visibly paled. "We need to talk to Emerald."

"I already said I'll pass along the message," Lily insisted.

"Remus need to tell her himself," James said.

"And I suppose the two of you just _have_ to be there, as well?" she questioned warily. "I think not."

"Lily," Remus said desperately. "Please?"

Lily sighed. "Fine," she finally said. "But if she tells me she doesn't want to talk to you, I'll hex you myself."

"Completely understood," Sirius said, and the three teenagers watched Lily climb up the stairs and into her room. Her head popped out not even a minute later.

"She's not here," she said.

"What?" James asked.

"Listen, Lily," Sirius started, "I know you _think_ she's mad at us –"

"I told you already," Lily said, irritated. "If she said she didn't want to see you, I would have hexed you already. She's really not here."

Confusion rose on Remus' face and he quickly ran upstairs to the boys' dorm room, looking through the mess until he found the Marauder's Map. The three boys looked through it, looking out for the name until James gasped, pointing at the Prewetts' room.

"Wow," Sirius said, unsure of what to think.

"Did that ever…" James started, not knowing how to continue his question.

"Not that I saw."

"Just how often do you spy on her, using the map?"

"More than is probably healthy," Remus replied, just as Peter walked into the room.

As he saw his three friends around the Marauder's Map, he frowned. "What did I miss?" he asked.

Wordlessly, James passed him the map, pointing at the room where the two points labeled _Hermione Granger_ and _Gideon Prewett_ were covering one another, only disturbed by small movements that revealed parts of the words.

"Gross," Peter said, and Remus found himself unable to disagree.


	15. Part 1, Chapter 15

**A/N:** **So I didn't upload this yesterday because I was trying to make it longer. I failed.**

 **Hope you'd like it anyways! :)**

* * *

Hermione walked back to Gryffindor tower later that night. She was cautious not to be seen by any of the teachers or, worse, Filch and Mrs. Norris, but she couldn't help skipping every second step.

Earlier that evening, she ran to her dorm room, intent on hiding away from the Marauders and on procrastinating until the time when she had no choice other than to face the fact that she was going to face a full moon completely alone, for the first time since she was bitten.

Only once she entered the room, did she realize that being cooped inside was impossible, due to the proximity to the moon. Quickly casting a disillusionment charm, she stepped out of the room, downstairs and out of the portrait hole, turning around one corner just as Remus, James and Sirius appeared from behind another.

She walked through the corridors, allowing her legs to carry her away but not paying attention until she found herself standing in front of the door to Gideon and Fabian's quarters. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door, and when Gideon showed up, she surprised both of them by jumping on him.

He stumbled back into the room and she waved her hand behind her in a non-conscious movement that shut the door as they fell on the couch and her mouth moved away from his and travelled down to his neck.

 _"Emerald," Gideon breathed out, "not that I complain or anything but what are you doing?"_

 _"What do you think I'm doing?" she asked, pulling his shirt up._

 _"Something that I want to make sure you won't regret later."_

 _He pulled back from her and grabbed her hands, looking into her eyes. There was no trace of brown in them – they were golden._

 _"I want this, Gid," she said, her voice husky. "I… I need this."_

 _"Are you sure?" he questioned, not breaking eye contact so he could see if there was as much as a small trace of doubt and back away while he still could._

 _"Yes," she said, and he found none._

 _He leaned in, capturing her lips in his mouth while simultaneously standing up and carrying her to his bedroom._

It wasn't planned. If anything, she planned not to – at least not while he was still her teacher. But there was this odd itching that subsided when they were together, and Gideon was loving, gentle and amazing. It seemed like he was trying to give her a corrective experience after all she's been through, making this time the amazing first time she had never received.

It was better than anything she imagined.

Now, she was walking back to the Common Room, feeling better than she had in months. She told the Fat Lady the password and walked into the common room. She didn't expect what she saw in front of her.

The four Marauders were sitting in the common room, all looking at her with expressions ranging from disdain, disbelieve and – in Remus' case – pure anger.

"Emerald," Sirius said, his voice tense. "Sit."

Her fight or flight instincts jumped in, traces of the old Hermione – the one she nearly forgot was even there. She could either head – or, more likely, flee – upstairs and face them tomorrow, after all five of them had a proper rest, or she could stay here, listen to their unjustified criticism and then confront them the way Hermione Granger would have done.

Gritting her teeth, she sat down in front of Remus, looking straight into his eyes.

Sitting there was making him itchy. She walked into the common room, smelling more like Gideon than she ever had – and, more importantly, smelling of sex – and sitting down in front of him, her entire posture ready for fight and the wolf more visible in her eyes than he ever remembered.

It was a new side to Emerald. One he had never seen before and one he wasn't certain if he ever wanted to see again.

She turned her eyes to look at Sirius, as he was the one who spoke as she entered. "Yes?" she asked, trying her best not to sound hostile.

"Just wanted to have a little chat," James lied effortlessly. "We were wondering where you were tonight."

"Clearing my head," she replied simply. It was, after all, the truth.

"Doing what?" Sirius questioned.

 _Hypocrite,_ Hermione thought to herself but shrugged in response to the question. "None of your business," she said coldly.

"We were just worrying about you," James quickly said, sending a warning look at the direction of his best mate. _Don't piss off a werewolf the day before the full moon!_ "Wanted to make sure Professor Prewett doesn't make you feel… obligated to do things you're uncomfortable with."

"Ever the worrying, aren't you lot?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well," Sirius said, "you are our friend."

"You wouldn't have said that a month ago, if I'm not mistaken," she reminded him. "And, besides, I am more than capable of handling myself. Aren't I, Remus?" she asked, turning to look at the werewolf who had stayed quiet since she entered the room.

"Yes…" he muttered. "But… Gideon is still our professor, and the… relationship the two of you are having is –"

"Permitted in the school rules as long as I'm of age," Hermione cut him off. "Which, as we both know very well, I am."

"It's still inappropriate –"

"So is shagging half the girls at school, Sirius," she said, looking at the dog Animagus. "But that hadn't bothered you before, had it?"

"He is our professor," James said. "There are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed."

"Like spying over people?" she asked, reminding Remus yet again that she knew of the Marauders Map. "Or interfering with business that have nothing to do with you?"

"Like shagging a professor, in his chambers, on a school night!" Sirius called. "Do you know what the implications would be, if word got out?"

"Word wouldn't get out if you'd stop screaming it in the middle of Gryffindor tower!" Hermione called, rising to her feet. Her eyes burned amber and waves of anger flowed from her. "This is my life. _Mine_. And I have to deal with enough shit as it is without you lot meddling with my love life!"

"He's our professor!"

"Had I not made myself clear that I don't care?" she questioned, locking eyes with James. It focused her, that one difference between her best friend and his father. "I don't care if he's our professor, the Minister of Magic or the bloody Queen of England! And I most certainly don't care what you have to say about it."

She stood up, heading towards the girl dormitories when Remus called for her.

"Emma!" he said, desperately.

She turned to look at him, anger in her eyes. "I said I don't care, Remus," she said coldly. "Good night."

* * *

Lily Evans was never a light sleeper. Growing up with Petunia and her snores – not that she ever told her sister about that, of course – she learned how to sleep through everything. Her father used to joke that she would sleep through an earthquake, should one ever happen. Her mother gave up on waking her up at holidays when she stayed home.

All of her roommates learned during the past six years not to even bother with it. She would always arrive to class on time, and most days she would even be one of the first at the Great Hall, and nothing they did to wake her up worked anyway. She was known as one to sleep through _everything_.

Which was why she was more than a bit surprised when she woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of thrashing coming from one of the other beds.

She sat in her bed and looked around, noting the fact that none of her other roommates was awake. _Odd_ , she thought to herself as she stood up, tightened her nightgown around her shoulders and moved on to look for the source of the noise.

She was shocked to see it was coming from Emerald's bed.

The girl, though nice and friendly, mostly kept to herself. Usually, she was up at the dorm after the rest of them fell asleep, and gone in the mornings before they even began to wake up. Lily never gave a second thought to the fact she wasn't in the room when she went to bed, though now she began to wonder when – and if – the girl fell asleep.

She walked towards the bed and looked at Emerald turning in her sleep and mumbling to herself. Or was she mumbling to the person in her dream?

"P- Please," she was saying. "I'm be- begging you. You do- don't have to do it. P- Please, s- stop."

Lily reached out a hand, attempting to awake her friend, but as soon as she touched her arm, the girl started screaming.

"No!" she called out, and Lily cast a quick _Muffliato_ without a second thought, to make sure none of the other roommates woke. "No! Stop, please! _Please!_ "

"Emerald!" Lily said, shaking her harder. "Emerald!"

The girl's eyes opened and she darted up. She was looking at Lily but it seemed as if it wasn't really her she was seeing.

"Harry?" she asked. "Harry, is that you?"

"No," Lily said, her heart breaking at the helplessness in Emerald's voice. "Emerald, it's Lily."

"I lied to her," Emerald mumbled. "I didn't tell her. She tried to make me tell her, but I didn't."

"It's okay," Lily replied. "Go back to sleep."

"You got out, though," Emerald said. "That's all that matters. This battle will be over eventually, you'll live happily ever after with Ginny. Ron would be alright, too. He'll find someone."

"Of course he will," Lily told her, though she had no idea what the other girl was talking about. "Go to sleep, Emerald."

"G'night, Harry," Emerald muttered, her mind already in a haze of sleepiness.

"Goodnight," Lily said, distracted.

She spent the rest of the night trying to understand why Emerald though she was someone named Harry, who were Ron and Ginny and what happened to all of them.

She planned asking Remus about it the next morning, but as she walked into Potions – their first class, she remembered he was absent. Went to visit his mum again. Later that day, Emerald headed off to visit her sister, and Lily got the feeling that perhaps all of those sick relatives were what bonded the two.

If only they would understand how good they are for each other, maybe Remus would be significantly less miserable.

That night, she couldn't sleep. Instead, she stayed up and looked out the window, her face drowning in the pool of light created by the moon. The _full moon_ , she now realized. Something Severus once told her during one of his anger fits about the Marauders came into her mind, just as the Whomping Willow stopped its thrashing from the corner of her eye.

 _No,_ she thought, looking in amazement as the tree started moving once again. _It couldn't be… Could it?_

* * *

A couple of days later found Remus sitting in the Library, trying to catch up with the material he had missed due to the full moon. He came back sooner than he normally would have to make sure Emerald was all right, only to find out she was still in the Infirmary, to which Madame Pomfrey refused to let him in.

And so, instead of being with her as they usually were after the full moon, he found himself sitting in their regular spot of the Library to write a two feet long essay that was due the next day for Transfiguration. He was just putting the parchment aside to dry when Lily sat next to him.

"Hey," he said, closing his Transfiguration book and reaching out for the reading material for his Charms homework. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Lily said, a bit more quickly than she normally would have. "Listen, I… I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I'm listening."

"Not here," she muttered. "It's about… about you and Emerald. About your… condition."

Remus stopped abruptly, only realizing it was the wrong thing to do when he focused on Lily's smell.

Nervousness. Worry. Fear.

"I…" he started, not knowing how to proceed.

"Let's go somewhere else," Lily said, rather curtly.

"Somewhere with witnesses, you mean?" he asked, bitterness leaking into his voice.

"No," Lily said, sounding a bit hurt. "Somewhere we won't be overheard."

Confusion crossed Remus' face as she dragged him away from the Library and towards an empty classroom. After making sure they wouldn't be disturbed there, she closed the door and looked at him.

"You're a werewolf," she stated, making him cringe.

"Yes," he replied, seeing no use of hiding it from her.

"Emerald is one, too," she added.

"She is," Remus confirmed.

"Is your mother really sick?" Lily questioned.

"Yes," Remus replied. "Though she had only been sick for a couple of weeks. I really went to visit her last week."

"And Emerald's sister?"

Remus cringed again. "She has no living relatives," he admitted quietly.

Lily nodded, thinking for a moment before moving on.

"We should get going," she said. "I wouldn't want to interfere with your studies."

"What?" Remus asked, confused. "Aren't you going to tell somebody about me?"

"I suppose the teachers already know," Lily said. "So it wouldn't be much use to tell them. And if they believe you're safe enough to attend the school, I believe it, as well."

"You shouldn't be," Remus said. "Lily, I'm dangerous. I'm…" Pain flashed through his eyes. "I'm a monster."

"Do you think Emerald is a monster?" Lily questioned.

"No, but –"

"There is no 'but'," Lily said. "If you call yourself a monster only because you are inflicted with something you can't control, then Emerald is a monster, as well. You said yourself that she isn't, so neither are you."

"It's more complicated than that," Remus sighed.

"Sounds pretty simple to me," Lily mused. "You're an intelligent, caring person and an amazing friend. The fact that you are also dangerous one day out of thirty every months doesn't change that to me."

"I…" Remus muttered in disbelief. "Thank you."

"There is nothing to thank me about," Lily brushed it off.

"Yes, there is," he insisted. "Not everyone think the way you do."

"Well, it is known that a lot of people are idiots," Lily said with a small smile. "Now, don't you have Charms homework to do?"


	16. Part 1, Chapter 16

**A/N:** **Sorry about the long wait between uploads... I find it hard to sit and write lately.**

 **Anyways, my friend Dina had discovered a new amazing way to make me write - every time we say we'll meet up, she keeps me waiting and while I wait, I write in my notebook. She's very pleased with herself over this. I'm not.**

 **Enjoy the chapter, and please review!**

* * *

Later that night, Remus was laying impatiently in his bed, willing for his friends to fall asleep already. They had all gone up to bed over an hour ago, but it wasn't until ten minutes ago that Sirius and James finally stopped talking, and he wanted them all to sleep when he left.

Finally, the soft sound of breathing was the only noise in the room – other than Peter's snores – and Remus climbed out of bed, quickly discarding the gown that covered his robes and grasping his wand and the Marauder's Map.

He was very cautious as he walked through the empty corridors, stopping every couple of steps to make sure no teachers were around, so it took him a while to reach his destination. And, once he got there, a couple of moments passed when he did nothing other than to stare through the Hospital Wing's oak doors and at the bed he knew was Emerald's.

It was well past curfew, as the small voice in the back of his mind – the one he referred to as 'Prefect Lupin' rather than 'Moony' – kept reminding him, but he knew Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let him see Emerald during the day, claiming she needed her rest.

Which was true, he supposed, and even ten times more so in the middle of the night. Emerald was probably asleep by now, but he still had to make sure she was fine – to see with his own eyes the results of her first full moon alone.

"I know you're there."

The sound of Emerald's voice made him jump with surprise. He hadn't noticed nor had he expected for her to be awake. Even now as he was focusing on his senses, her scent radiated calmness, and her breaths were relaxed and even.

 _Couldn't have been that bad of a moon if she's that relaxed,_ he thought to himself, and the thought took away some of the guilt he felt over leaving her.

"Hey," he said aloud. "How are you?"

"A bit sore," she replied. "But I've been worse."

"Doesn't say much when it comes to you," he noted. "But I'm glad. I know it couldn't have been easy – your first moon alone."

"Oh, I wasn't alone," she dismissed.

"You weren't?" Remus asked, confused.

"You must think very little of your friends if you believe they knew I was at the Shack and left me alone," Emerald went on. "Sirius went as far as making sure to bring a blanket to cover me come morning."

"He did?" Remus asked. "That sounds… not Sirius-like."

"Well, he said that since you were away it was their responsibility to make sure Luna was fine." She turned around, mock glaring at him. "I can't believe you told them about that."

"Er…" Remus started. "I didn't."

"It's true, then," Emerald said, the hint of a smile showing on her lips. "Four Marauders, one brain."

"Who told you that?" Remus asked, coming closer and sitting on the chair by her bed.

"You did," she replied. "Or, rather, you will. We spent the summer between my fourth and fifth year in Grimmauld Place, and you lot had plenty of inappropriate stories to share."

"Grimmauld Place?" Remus asked, pulling a face. "What possessed us to live there?"

"It was the Order's Headquarters," Emerald shrugged. "Most of the summer was spent clearing the place from things that would kill us."

"Sounds like Grimmauld Place," Remus laughed. "Sirius probably wasn't happy with going back there."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one," Emerald muttered.

"Wait," Remus said thoughtfully. "How could you live there? I mean, I don't expect Mr. and Mrs. Black to live forever – bloody hope they won't – but _somebody_ must have had claim over the house before Sirius. Regulus, for instance."

Out of all the possible responses Remus imagined for that statement, Emerald shutting down was not on the list.

"No," he whispered, as he understood the meaning of her silence. "How?"

"He deflected," Emerald said sadly. "Realized what Voldemort was doing and tried to stop him. He died trying to destroy one of Voldemort's…" She paused, looking as if she almost revealed something she shouldn't have. "He died a hero."

Silence followed that statement as Emerald was once again drawn into the world she came from – a world that seemed to offer nothing but sadness and death – and Remus searched his mind for a new topic for conversation.

"So it was a good full moon?" he asked, rather awkwardly.

"I guess," Emerald shrugged. "As I said, I'm not unusually sore, and Madam Pomfrey said I could be discharged tomorrow, so it couldn't have been that bad."

"Didn't the other Marauders tell you?" Remus asked. Usually after a full moon the Marauders told him what happened during the night – for better and for worse.

"No," Emerald huffed, clearly annoyed. "They seem to think I'm made of glass – like I could break any moment. I think it has something to do with the fact that they saw my magic when it was uncontrolled."

"It's a possibility," Remus said thoughtfully. "Usually, they're brutally honest about the moon, and I know James recognized your wandless magic as symptoms he saw with some friend of his dad's that were held hostage for long periods of time."

"He did?" Emerald asked, concerned. "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"It didn't seem very important," Remus said. "And you told me the truth about you not long after, so it slipped my mind."

"Is there anything else that slipped your mind? Like, let's say, curfew?"

Both Emerald and Remus turned around to see Gideon walking into the room. He planted a quick kiss on Emerald's head before looking back at Remus expectantly.

"Sorry, Professor," Remus quickly said, standing up. "I just wanted to make sure Emerald is alright. And, now that I have…" He looked at the two of them uncomfortably. "I think I will head back to Gryffindor Tower."

"You don't have to," Emerald started, but Remus shook his head.

He knew the overprotective boyfriend charade, having seen Sirius on the wrong side of it way too often, and knew that the smart move would be to back off.

"I really should," he said. "Good night, Emerald. Professor Prewett."

"Good night," Emerald said.

Remus would have thought she sounded a bit put down if not for the fact that he looked back through the Infirmary doors right before he left, and saw that Gideon's mouth has already claimed hers, his hands travelling up and down her body.

Remus sighed, pushing Moony's jealous growl back down before it escaped his throat. Even if it wasn't for the fact that both Gideon and Emerald kept reminding him of it in their small ways – on purpose or not, respectively – he couldn't forget the fact that as much as he wanted, Emerald wasn't his.

* * *

As she expected, Hermione was let out of the Hospital Wing the next morning. She changed from her hospital gown into a set of her school uniform, of which Poppy had taken to keep an extra of in her back office.

Another set of uniform – Remus' uniform – was also kept there, and seeing it reminded Hermione of last night. She had fully intended not to let Gideon's jealous boyfriend act – and _complete_ abuse of authority – slide, but then his lips claimed hers and all was forgotten.

Luna – she was going to kill Remus for that nickname – growled appreciatively and before Hermione completely comprehended what was happening, they were doing something she never thought she'd do on school grounds, let alone in the Infirmary where anyone could accidently walk in on them and most certainly not right after Remus left.

But she couldn't even say that was a first for them – because it most certainly _wasn't_ – or that she didn't enjoy it – _Merlin_ , did she enjoy it. Besides, it subsided the odd itching she felt these days – she should _really_ see Madam Pomfrey if it didn't go away soon – and it made Luna a great deal calmer – she was going to _kill_ Remus for that nickname.

In short, after everything Hermione and Gideon did in the past week, any comment about his behavior would be downright hypocritical.

So she bit her tongue and moved on, grabbing the schoolbag that one of the house elves fetched for her despite her protests and headed towards breakfast.

As much as Hermione could say she wasn't surprised when she was released, she most certainly couldn't say the same thing when she saw Lily waiting for her.

"Lily!" she called out louder than she planned to as she tried to think of a believable lie as to what she was doing in the Hospital wing. "Hi!"

"Hey," Lily replied in a much calmer demeanor. "Just thought I'd come here so we could walk to breakfast together."

"I had a headache!" Hermione blurted out before she could stop herself, immediately feeling her face heating up.

"Seriously?" Lily questioned. "A _headache_? You just came back from supposedly visiting your sister in St. Mungo's. Even if I didn't know the truth, I would have suspected now."

"Lily, I –" Hermione started before stopping in shock. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, right," Lily said in understanding. "Remus didn't have the chance to tell you yet."

"Tell me what?"

"That I know about the two of you. About your condition. I won't tell," she added quickly, misunderstanding the look on her friend's face. "You don't have to worry."

"It's not me who should be worried," Emerald muttered, stomping towards the Great Hall.

"What?" This time, it was Lily's turn to be surprised. "Emerald, wait!"

She followed the older witch all the way to the Great Hall, where Hermione marched towards the Marauders and promptly hit Remus over the head.

"Ow!" he called out. "What was that for?"

"Nothing else slipped your mind, hasn't it?" she questioned, and as he looked around and saw Lily, the pieces connected in his mind.

"To be fair," he started, rubbing his head, "I never actually _said_ that nothing else slipped my mind."

"I bloody noticed," Hermione muttered, sitting down next to him.

Lily looked at the group for a moment before deciding to sit further up the table, though to Hermione's opinion, she did it quite reluctantly.

"So, what have we got today?" she asked. The days she spent in the Hospital Wing always made her quite disoriented when it came to weekdays.

"Double Defense, first thing on the morning," Peter piped up. "Professor Prewett said it will probably be another practical lesson."

"They're planning to do something along the line of what we had in our first class of the year," Hermione said. "Gid said they want to see our progress."

"Nothing to check," James said smugly. "I'm still the best."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked him, raising a brow.

"What?" James asked. "I know you're better against me, but you'll have to face Mulciber first."

"I bet you twenty Galleons I will not only beat your arse, but I will also beat Mulciber's," she retorted.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Remus asked.

"Somebody's ego could use a couple of bruises," Hermione replied.

"Couldn't agree more," Sirius said with a smile. "I add another twenty saying Emerald wins. Moony?"

"I'm a Prefect," Remus said. "I'm not going to put my money on something like this. I say that when Emerald wins, James will have to clean his bed area."

"Thanks for the support, guys," James huffed. "I say that when _I_ win, _Remus_ will have to clean my bed area."

"Don't worry, Remus," Emerald said. "He doesn't stand a chance."

"And Mulciber does?"

"No," she said confidently, though a small voice in the back of her head added, _"I hope not."_

* * *

"Today, we thought we'll do something a little different," Gideon told the class, who was looking at him expectantly, wands in hands.

"It resembles a bit of what we did in our first class, only with a major difference," Fabian said.

"There will be another tournament," Gideon clarified.

"Only instead of pairs, it will be all against all," Fabian went on.

"In an actual fighting situation, you don't get the privilege of one on one combat," Gideon said. "While you fight against one person, three others might be trying to get you."

"You might fight one against two, or three, or four."

"Either way, you have to be observant to everything going on around you."

"Now, to make it a bit more interesting," Fabian said with a small smile, "The last person standing have an O guaranteed in this subject, and is not obliged to attend the class for the rest of the year."

Murmurs passed through the class at that statement, and out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw James looking even more determined than before.

"Everybody ready?" Gideon asked. "Good. On the count of three: one… three!"

Hermione immediately rolled around and hid behind a Ravenclaw boy. A Stupefy charm that was undoubtedly aimed at her hit him, and moments later, he disappeared and reappeared in a secluded area Gideon and Fabian had arranged.

Looking around, Hermione saw that nearly half of the class was out during that initial attack, but that this fact didn't stop most people from keeping on and fighting.

Avery was fighting Lily, and she quickly sent a full body bind his way before adding a _Tarantallegra_ who hit her friend, causing her to start dancing and the wand to drop off her hand. With the two of them out, Hermione looked around the room to see who was left.

Sirius was fighting Mulciber, and James was laughing as he dodged a spell Snape shot his way as Remus and Diggory seemed to be quite even in their dueling. Deciding to wait and see which one of them would win before letting them know she was there, she disarmed Sirius and stepped forwards just in time to catch his place in front of Mulciber.

"Gonna run away crying again?" Mulciber asked.

"You wish," Hermione replied through gritted teeth, sending four quick hexes at him one after the other and letting the duel begin.

He was just as good as she remembered, but this time he lacked the advantage of her being scared of him. She fought fiercely, and she fought dirty, and still none of them got the better of the other. She noticed Diggory winning against Remus and pointing his wand at her and quickly conjured a shield, causing Mulciber's curse to rebound at him.

James was still fighting Snape and Hermione knew that no matter which one of them won, they would rather take her out next then risk fighting one on one against her. She noticed a table behind Mulciber and smiled, silently casting an _Accio_ that caused the table to knock him out.

Thrilled with her victory, she turned around to assess the situation between the still fighting Gryffindor and Slytherin in the room. The smile on her face drifted off and she felt a heavy weight on her heart as James aimed his wand at Snape and called out, _"Sectumsempra!"_


	17. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

**A/N:** **Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.**

 **I know there's no good excuse for not updating for so long, but I'm gonna tell you guys anyways: I got a denial on my application for Medical school, signed in for and started a degree in Biology, celebrated my mum, dad and brother's birthdays as well as my own while living off four hours of sleep per night while dealing with the** ** _worst_** **writer's block I had** ** _ever_** **had.**

 **I have the next chapter written, but it's not nearly as long as I wanted it to be so I still need to work on that and see how I'm going to fix it rather than give you a chapter which is third the normal length.**

 **And if that wasn't enough, my computer decided it no longer wants to works, and I only just got it back after a week.**

 **Now, the good thing that came out of this is that I've have parts of the next chapter written, and have decided to share one of those with you to help you get by :)**

 **WARNING: The following scene has no context whatsoever other than the fact that it's during the next chapter and there isn't much of plot in it. Ye be warned.**

* * *

"Well," Madam Pomfrey said, "From what you described, it seems to me like you're in heat."

"In heat?" Hermione questioned. "What do you mean?"

"What do you know of wolves?" the Matron asked. "Not werewolves, _wolves_ , and particularly their mating habits."

"Oh," Hermione said, her eyes widening in grim understanding. " _In heat_."

* * *

 **A/N#2:** **If any of you are reading any of my other stories, you'll notice I published similar messages in them, as well.**


	18. Part 1, Chapter 17

**A/N:** ***Carefully places chapter as an offering of peace for readers.***

 **I'm sorry for the terribly long wait between updates... Is it safe to come out yet?**

* * *

It seemed like time had stopped. Hermione saw the jet of light nearing Snape as if on slow motion, and she wasn't even consciously aware when she cast a powerful _Protego_ , followed almost immediately by two disarming charms. As James and Snape's wands touched her hand, they were transported to the safe area Gideon and Fabian had made.

Gideon quickly slashed his wand, causing all of the spells in the area Hermione was in to disappear, leaving her standing safely in the middle of the room. She wasn't standing long, however, for as soon as she knew her classmates were in her reach, she headed towards James, punching him square in the jaw.

"Emerald!" she heard Remus call.

"What was that for?" Sirius asked her, angry.

"Miss Grey," Gideon's soft voice came through. "Do you have an explanation as to why you attacked a fellow student after the battle was over?"

"No, Professor," Hermione said. "But, then again, I don't believe he has an explanation for many things, as well."

And with that, she marched out of the classroom and towards the Hospital Wing, in desperate need of a Calming Draught.

* * *

Hermione was sitting in the Hospital Wing, allowing Madam Pomfrey to do what she did best – fretting over students. After drinking the Calming Draught, the Matron insisted Hermione would go through a thorough check, tutting and shaking her finger every time the younger witch made a move to argue with her.

At a certain point, the Marauders and Lily came in to get a salve for James' bruise. When asked about the origin of the bruise, they all looked angrily at Hermione, who only explained that there was a reason she needed the Calming Draught to begin with.

"I believe that is quite it," Madam Pomfrey finally said, after performing yet another check on Hermione. "That is, of course, unless you have the need for my help on another matter."

"It can wait," Hermione said curtly.

"Are you sure?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Yes," Hermione said. "It's not something I wish to talk about in…" Hermione looked at the Marauders briefly. "Not in present company," she finally settled.

"Fine," Madam Pomfrey huffed. "I expect you back here before the end of the week or I will change your living quarters to this very room."

"Understood," Hermione said with a small smile, exiting the room.

"Wait!" a voice called from behind her, and she turned to see James, immediately regretting coming to a halt.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"Why did you punch me?" he questioned.

"You know full well why I punched you," she retorted.

"I really don't," he said, looking too much like Harry for her liking.

"What were you thinking?" she questioned. "Casting that spell? Do you have any idea what it does?"

"Well…" James started. "Do you?"

"So you just cast a spell you found… where did you even find it?" Her eyes flashed angrily when he looked sheepish. "Where did you find it?"

"In Snivellus' Potions book, alright?" James asked. "We stole it – as a joke – and it was just written there. It said 'For Enemies', so I thought –"

"So you thought it would be nice to cast it on him, did you?" Hermione questioned. "Perhaps give him a taste of his own medicine?"

"What?" James asked, confused.

"Muggle phrase," Hermione sighed. "It's like… feed him a spoonful of his own cauldron, or something of that sort. The point is – you know Snape. You know what 'Enemies' mean. How could you possibly think using it was a good idea?"

"I –"

"According to what everybody told me, you _hate_ Dark Magic," Hermione said.

 _"Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts,"_ Sirius had told Harry once, back in their fifth year. _"And James — whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry — always hated the Dark Arts."_

"What do you mean by _that_?" James asked, offended.

"That curse you were just about to use on a fellow student," she said slowly, as if explaining to a child. "It's Dark Magic. Not even bordering on grey – it's outright dark. You… you would have killed him, James. He would have died if I hadn't cast the shield charm."

"He…" James looked shocked. "What?"

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Now give me that goddamn book before anybody else sees this spell written in it and stupidly decides to cast it on a Slytherin, just because he feels like it."

 _Just like Harry did. Potter men are complete idiots when sixteen years old._

* * *

Severus Snape was annoyed. It wasn't uncommon, but it bugged him today more than it usually did. He wasn't exactly sure why. It seemed like a cycle that was feeding itself, as he was getting more and more annoyed from being annoyed.

He was sitting in the Library, trying to ignore the empty chair across from him as it was both one of the reasons to his annoyance, and both the regular seat of one of the other reasons to his annoyance. One who was currently avoiding him. A single thought kept running around in his head, distracting him from the Transfiguration essay he was attempting to write.

 _How did Emerald Grey, a new transfer student who had been in the school for less than a year, knew about Sectumsempra?_

He read and reread the same paragraph over and over again, the words not once settling into his mind during the thirty minutes he sat in the Library so far.

Maybe she wasn't avoiding him. It was possible that she was sitting with Lupin, as often happened. A quick glance at the other tables around him threw that theory to the garbage bin. Lupin, Black and Pettigrew were sitting by one of the tables, supposedly doing their homework as the lattermost frequently asked the other two questions, to which they patiently replied.

He barely had time to wonder where Potter was before the prat himself arrived and sat by his little gang, silencing his friends' questions. Severus smirked to himself as he noticed neither Lily nor Emerald sat with them, before realizing that meant the latter of the two _was_ avoiding him.

Just as he had reached that conclusion, a big, black book was dropped next to him, causing him to jump in fear and surprise. Looking back at the table he was sitting next to, he saw Emerald across from him, her books and parchment already in front of her and his copy of _Advanced Potions-Making_ in front of him.

He carefully picked the book up, looking through the pages cautiously to make sure it was indeed his book yet still wary of curses someone might've cast on it.

"Yes, it is your book," Emerald replied to his unasked question, not looking up at him. "And it's safe. I made sure of that myself." He ruffled the book's pages some more before turning his attention back to her, seeing her looking right at him. "You really ought to take better care of your things."

"I do take care of my things," Severus muttered.

"Apparently not if James managed to get a hold of it," Emerald retorted.

"Oh, it's 'James' now, is it?" Severus bit out. "Just this morning it was Potter. Who knew all it took was trying to kill me for you to –"

"Think carefully whether or not you really want to finish this sentence."

Severus smirked. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"I assume it was something along the lines of 'Worshiping the ground he walks on'," Emerald all but spat.

"I'm afraid my version was quite a bit cruder," Severus replied, enjoying the way Emerald's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed.

"Not that it's any of your business," she said sharply, "But I am in a happy relationship and have never – nor will I ever – have feelings for James Potter."

"Which ones of the mutts is it, then?" Severus snarled. "Are you stupid enough to be with Black or desperate enough for Pettigrew? Perhaps you're a fond of bestiality and settled for Lupin –"

The slap echoed throughout the library, causing several heads to look in their direction. Severus held up a hand to his stinging cheek, avoiding Emerald's eyes. If he hadn't, he might've noticed they turned ember at his words, now slowly turning back to their natural chocolate-brown and held equal amounts of anger and regret.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I overstepped."

"Yes, you did," Emerald whispered. "Why?"

"You knew the spell," he said. "And you had my book. I thought –"

"I took the book from James earlier today to give it back to you," she said.

"And the spell?" he questioned.

"I… I can't tell you."Severus scowled, still not looking at her, and Emerald sighed. "Severus," she said softly and his head shot up."

She never called him by his first name before.

"You keep secrets," he accused.

"As do you," she replied, her eyes darting to his left arm and making his breath hitch. He wasn't marked yet, but… "It's okay," Emerald said. "We all have things to hide."

Her hand travelled to her own arm, carefully peeling off the left sleeve of her shirt. He didn't know what he expected to see, but he knew it wasn't the word that ruined his life just a little less than a year ago, staring at him, written in red letters.

 _Mudblood._

"Almost nobody saw it," she said quietly, rolling her sleeve back to place. "Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey had, of course, Remus, Gideon and now you."

"Gideon?" he asked, trying to get the image of the scarring on her arm out of his mind.

"Professor Prewett."

And suddenly, all of the pieces clicked together and made sense. The way Emerald held herself, just barely managing to keep her head up yet still radiating confidence wherever she went. Her wariness of the Slytherins. Her dueling skills. The way she knew where to look when mentioning his alliance to the Dark Lord – even if Lucius only connected him to the powerful wizard a couple of months ago.

She was by far more mature than her classmates – probably older than them, too – and it only made sense that her choice of partner, for the lack of a better word, was someone older. Someone with the ability to make her feel safe.

Most of the not-Slytherins in the school had little to no awareness to the war that was raging just outside the Castle walls, and that was starting to build up within them, but Emerald Grey _knew_.

She was a soldier – a young one, but still experienced. And by the looks of it, the price of gaining this experience reached a bit too close to losing her life.

He made a moment's decision, one he knew he wasn't going to regret.

"Your secrets are safe with me," he vowed. "All of them."

* * *

Later that week found Hermione heading to the Hospital Wing, true to the promise she made to Madam Pomfrey. She looked over her shoulder every minute or so, looking for signs that any of the Marauders was following her.

Even though she made relative peace with James, she was still angry at him for stealing Severus' book, and the fact she knew the spell made him too curious for his own good. When he started bombing her with an endless number of questions, none of which she could answer, she started avoiding the group of four.

That only seemed to make them trail her around using the Marauder's Map – especially Remus, he seemed to always be searching for her.

The one good thing that came out of this experience was that she realized the itching she felt – the same itching she was now going to Madam Pomfrey to talk about – had something to do with the people around her.

When she was in her room with the girls, or during the rare times she was alone, the itching was almost nonexistent. When she was sitting in the Library, in the Great Hall or in the Common Room, it was n the back of her mind, not bothering her yet still there. When she was with Gideon, it was strong enough so that she was unable to avoid it, though it somewhat subsided when they were having sex, and for about half an hour afterwards.

And if Remus was within ten feet of her, it was unbearable.

A fact which was quite problematic, considering that they shared each and every one of their classes.

She reached the Infirmary, walking inside and looking around to check if there was anybody there, the place seemed abandoned of all people, the Matron excluded, so Hermione took off her glamour charms and sat down – nearly fell – on one of the beds.

"You're exhausting yourself," Madam Pomfrey accused.

"I can't very well walk around without the glamour, can I?" Hermione asked.

"You're looking better than you did when the year began," the Matron said, looking her over.

"Not to sound vain or anything," Hermione said, "But it's not enough."

The older witch shook her head sadly, casting a couple of diagnostic spells. "You seem fine to me," she said.

"I didn't come to you because of a physical problem," Hermione said. "I have this sort of… itching lately. It started around the beginning of March and it's slowly getting worse."

"Itching?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "Where?"

"In my brain," Hermione replied. "I managed to notice a couple of things about it – it's more evident when there are other people around and it's significantly stronger next to Gideon and Remus."

"Is subsides when you're alone?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Yes," Hermione said. "And also after Gid and I…" She sifted in her spot. "You know…"

"I'm not going to judge you," Madam Pomfrey told her. "You are of age, as is your boyfriend. That is more than I can say about most girls who come to me for birth control." She eyes the teenager warily. "You _do_ use birth control, right?"

"Yes," Hermione confirmed. "I'm on the Potion and Gid casts the spell every time."

"Good," Madam Pomfrey said. "Especially since I'm not completely sure the Potion alone will do in your case."

"What?" Hermione asked, confused. "Why?"

"Well," Madam Pomfrey said, "From what you described, it seems to me like you're in heat."

"In heat?" Hermione questioned. "What do you mean?"

"What do you know of wolves?" the Matron asked. "Not werewolves, _wolves_ , and particularly their mating habits?"

"Oh," Hermione said, her eyes widening in grim understanding. " _In heat_."

* * *

 **A/N #2:** **Words cannot explain how sorry I am for not uploading for about eight months... Real Life with the addition of Writer's Block kinda got in the way of everything.**

 **The good news is I'm still alive! And with a brand new chapter!**

 **The bad news is that I'm not exactly sure when will I have time to update again... you can follow my tumblr (mayalr96) for more updates about that, or just if you want to see other things I upload there :)**


	19. Part 1, Chapter 18

**A/N:** **It had been way too long since my last update. I won't make any promises about the next one, since I don't know if I'll be able to keep it, but I want you to know I didn't forget this story and that I do plan on seeing it through.**

 **It just might take longer than I expected it to.**

 **Anyway, hope you'd like this one! (I really do hope, it's been hell to write)**

* * *

Remus couldn't stay away from Emerald. _Physically_ couldn't stay away as every time he tried to, Moony started howling in his mind. It only seemed to subside when the two werewolves were close enough for the wolf's liking – a distance that seemed to settle around ten feet. The problem was that it seemed like Emerald, on her side, was doing anything she could to avoid him.

It started around the time James tried to cast that curse on Snape. At first, Remus thought Emerald was simply angry with them, but after James told the other Marauders about the conversation he had with her, Remus understood that couldn't be the case. He also noticed that while she didn't spent much time with the Marauders in general, he was the only one of the four she actively avoided.

It became even worse after Emerald visited Madam Pomfrey, making Remus decide enough was enough. He was going to talk to her, whether she liked it or not – even if that meant he had to ambush her.

A little over three weeks after the Defense class his friends started to refer to as 'The War Zone', he sat on the couch in the Common Room, alone except for the dying fire in the fireplace. The hour was well past midnight, but Emerald still hadn't returned to Gryffindor Tower – nothing uncommon these days, since she stressed way too much over the end of the year exams, especially considering that this wasn't even an OWL year or a NEWT year.

He looked at the book he placed on the table some time earlier, his mind too bothered to focus on the words written there as he waited. He was completely unaware of the fact that Emerald was standing right outside the Fat Lady's portrait, anxiously waiting for him to go up to his room.

The full moon was only days away and as it came close, Hermione felt the effects of her Heat from even a greater distance than before. It was very useful when she was trying to avoid Remus – less so now when she was tired to the bone and all she wanted was to get to her bed without the itching driving her mad.

She stood there for close to twenty minutes when she heard noises coming from behind her. _Probably Prefects or teachers on rounds,_ she realized, her eyes darting between the corridor and the portrait.

She had no choice – she couldn't allow herself to get caught! What was she supposed to say? She had a feeling that "I'm a werewolf in Heat so I'm trying to avoid the other werewolf because just being in the same room with him makes me want to both scratch my brains out and jump his bones," wouldn't go so well.

It only took a moment for her to act according to her choice. She woke up the Fat Lady – quite rudely, as the portrait made sure to tell her – and whispered the password, hurrying inside with the hopes that Remus merely fell asleep in the Common Room and that she could simply walk past him and to her room uninterrupted.

She couldn't.

Walking inside, she saw him sitting – wide awake and looking at her expectantly.

"You're avoiding me."

It was a statement, not a question, and it made Hermione flinch. It wasn't just that it was true, or that he figured it out and was more than likely hurt by her actions. It was that the sound of his voice felt like gravel inside Hermione's mind.

"Can we just… not talk about this right now?" she asked hopefully.

"No," he replied harshly. "You're avoiding me, and I deserve to know why."

"Remus," Hermione said with a tired sigh, "Let's talk about it in the morning."

"So you can escape again?" he questioned. "How long so you plan to keep doing this? How long are you going to avoid me?"

"Until spring passes," she said through gritted teeth, leaning on one of the couches for support. The itching was almost too much for her to bear and she didn't have the strength – mental or physical – to fight with her own mind at the moment.

"What?"

Hermione sighed again before replying, "Remus, how much do you know about wolves?"

If Remus wasn't so angry, he might've snorted with laughter. "Quite a lot," he replied coldly instead.

"Not werewolves," Hermione corrected. "Wolves."

"Considering the side effects, I'm still not entirely clueless," Remus said.

"Do you know what happens to certain species of wolves in the spring?" Hermione questioned.

"No," he admitted. "What happens?"

"They mate," Hermione replied. "They create the future generation – they have children. And for that to happen, the females are in Heat."

"Wait," Remus said. "Are you saying you're pregnant?"

"No," Hermione replied. "What I _am_ saying is that Luna is currently screaming at Moony that she can reproduce, and it _itches_ in my _brain_."

Remus' eyes widened. "You're in…"

"So, yes, forgive me if I avoided you," Hermione bit out. "Forgive me if I ran away when you were coming, because I literally can't think when you're in the room and it _hurts_."

"I feel the itch when I'm away from you," Remus admitted. "Though it isn't nearly as bad as you describe it."

"That's Moony's primal instincts," Hermione said. "He's the Alpha wolf here, so he sees it as his right to reproduce with Luna."

"What?" Remus asked. "Emerald, I would _never_ –"

"I know you wouldn't," Hermione cut him off. "I trust you, Remus. But I don't trust Moony. So I'm going to keep avoiding you and I'll turn the other way whenever you come nearby. Just, please, don't make it harder than it already is."

"I won't," Remus promised without hesitation.

"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling sadly. "Good night, Remus. See you in the summer."

* * *

The full moon always brought an air of nervousness with it.

The aching muscles in the days leading to it, the short temper and the feeling of Moony slowly making his way to the forefront of Remus' mind was something he couldn't seem to get used to, even after thirteen years. He could only imagine how Emerald was feeling, for she hasn't been doing this for as long as he had, but the combination of that with the expectation for the pain of the transformation was the worst feeling one could feel.

He kept true to his promise of staying away from her. Even though they were together in nearly every class, he made sure to sit as far away from her as possible and avoided her during meals and in the halls. She was only rarely found in the Common Room, and a quick glance at the Map confirmed his suspicions of her spending her time with Professor Prewett.

But they both knew they couldn't avoid each other forever, and as Remus sat in the Shrieking Shack, waiting for Emerald to arrive, he could only dread what the moon would bring.

 _"_ _I trust you, but I don't trust Moony,"_ she had said, and could he really blame her?

Moony was unpredictable, an animal – a _monster_ – acting by its instincts. And, as his instincts were currently to mate with Luna, Remus could only hope that the other Marauders would be able to keep the two wolves in check without hurting themselves.

Emerald arrived at the last possible moment, only having enough time to glance at Remus worriedly before the transformation started.

Neither of them were sure who reached out to grab for the other's hand, but they were both immensely graceful for that as their consciousness were pushed to the back of their minds and the wolves took over.

Remus woke up first. The simple action of opening his eyes seemed to strain every muscle of his body. When he finally managed to do what felt practically impossible, he saw three teenagers talking to each other in worried, hushed voices.

"Hey," he said.

Or, at least, tried to say. Only a hoarse croak came out, but it was enough to attract his friends' attention. Peter jumped up, Sirius nearly spilt a glass of water on him in his haste to hand it to him and James turned to look at Emerald, sighing when he saw she was still asleep.

Remus couldn't tell if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment.

"Take it easy," Sirius said as Remus chugged the water in. "It was a rough one last night.

"What…" Remus started, only to burst into a coughing fit. "What… happened?"

The three Animagi exchanged worried looks.

"We're not exactly sure," Peter finally said after a short pause. "Moony was especially aggressive last night and Luna… well…"

"She was howling and crying, most of the time," James said, wincing slightly. "And she… she scratched herself a lot, which made Moony angry. We thought he was going to attack her, a couple of times."

Remus' gaze turned to Emerald, noticing he thick bandages that covered her torso.

"He didn't…?" he started, uncertain if he wanted to know the answer.

"No," Sirius replied. "That was… that was all her."

For some reason, this admission hurt more than if Sirius would have said it was Moony who caused the damage. He feared something would happen, but he never imagined anything as bad as this. He could only imagined what would have happened if the other Marauders weren't there – he honestly couldn't tell if things were better or worse if Moony would have been left alone.

Shortly after he woke up, the Marauders were ushered out of the Infirmary to go to their classes, and Remus was left alone, waiting for Emerald to wake up. She didn't even move until after dinner, when Sirius, James and Peter walked back into the room.

"Is she still…" Sirius asked, stepping closer to her bed.

"Yes," Remus said quietly, trying not to show how much it was bothering him that she was still asleep.

"Well," Peter said, "She's slept for longer before, hasn't she?"

"She was about ten times more hurt when she did," James replied.

Sirius swallowed hard, sitting on the chair next to Emerald's bed. If anyone would have told the group a couple of months ago that they would grow to care so much for the young woman, none of them would have believed it. Sirius looked at the sleeping girl.

"Do you know why it's affecting her so much?" he asked.

"I have a theory," Remus said. "But it's not mine to tell."

Sirius nodded absently, moving a stray curl away from Emerald's face. "She just can't seem to catch a break, can she?" he asked.

He didn't expect the woman in question to sit upright the moment his hand touched her skin. Immediately, his hands were wrapped around her shoulders, trying to calm her down. Around them, things were flying around the room, narrowly missing his friends.

"Emerald," he said desperately. "Emerald, it's me. It's Sirius! Emma!"

She paused at the nickname, her glazed eyes focusing on him. "Sirius?"

"It's me," he said. "It's just us. Just the Marauders."

"I… I don't…" her eyes travelled to the window, seeing the colours of twilight shining through. "How long was I asleep?"

"The whole day," James said, stepping closer. "It's past dinner now."

"Don't you have curfew soon?"

"Like we ever cared," Sirius shrugged. "You okay?"

"I think so," Emerald muttered. "I… everything hurts."

"It'll pass," Peter promised, his eyes following her hand as she started scratching something on her collarbone. "What's wrong?"

"Something itches," Emerald replied, scratching harder. "Like a bug-bite but worse."

"You don't –" Remus started before cutting himself off. "Nothing else… _itches_?"

"No," Emerald frowned, turning her head and trying to see what was itching. "Does somebody have a mirror, or something?"

"Sure," Sirius said, pulling out a mirror from his book bag. The other three Marauders looked at him in disbelief and he shrugged. "What? Looking this good doesn't come easily, you know."

"Hand it over," Emerald said, grasping the mirror and using it to look at her collarbone.

"What is it?" James asked.

"Not sure," Emerald muttered. "It's like… it looks like an empty triangle. Not a bug-bite, that's for sure."

"Can I see?" James asked and Hermione nodded, allowing him to get closer to her. "That's weird," he said. "It's just… this odd mark, not sure what it's supposed to mean…"

Emerald's eyes widened and she started to shake in fear, memories that she was certain she was already over getting back to her.

 _"_ _Maybe I should just Mark you," a voice growled. "That way, you'll always be mine. No one could ever claim you other than me, and I'll no everything that will happen to you… and you'll know everything that will happen to me…"_

"No," she whimpered, unaware that she was speaking out loud. "No, please, don't –"

 _"_ _Don't worry," the voice replied. "I won't do it until the full moon. But then…" He smiled, and Hermione wanted to cry. "Then, you'll truly be mine."_

"No!"

Four heads turned to look at the mirror as it cracked, Emerald's hair crackling with uncontained magic.

"No! _No! NO!_ "

Madam Pomfrey was there before any of them fully comprehended what was happening, creating a dome around Emerald to stop her from wrecking the room as the young woman kept screaming.

"Why didn't you tell me the moment she woke up?" she asked the four boys, but didn't wait for an answer as she joined Emerald in the dome, barely managing to calm her down enough to take a calmness draught.

The young woman wasn't even aware of what was happening around her as the world faded into the realms of dreams.

* * *

 _She was on the Hogwarts Express. A cloaked figure opened the door to their compartment and Hermione shivered at the chillness, remembering everything bad that had ever happened to her. She felt like being happy again wasn't even a possibility, next to her Ginny started crying and she vaguely realized Harry passed out before a man stood up._

 _"_ _None of us are hiding Sirius Black underneath their cloaks," the man – Remus, it was Remus, though a significantly older one – said, his wand hand darting forwards to cast the Patronus Charm that drove the Dementor away._

 _She blinked and found herself in a classroom – the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. But Gid and Fabe weren't the ones who stood at the teacher's spot. It was Remus, the same Remus as before._

 _They were practicing against Boggarts, and the monster came to a stop in front of Harry, making Remus jump in front of him. The Boggart turned into the full moon and Remus flicked his wand, making it disappear again._

 _It was later that year, in the Shrieking Shack the night everything changed. Remus burst through the door and disarmed them before looking at Sirius. Slowly he lowered his wand, pulled Sirius to his feet and pulled him into a tight embrace._

 _"_ _I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"_

 _The words were coming out of her own mouth, but Hermione couldn't quite belief this was how her own voice sounded._

 _"_ _You – you –"_

 _"_ _Hermione –"_

 _"–_ _you and him!"_

 _"_ _Hermione, calm down –"_

 _"_ _I didn't tell anyone! I've been covering up for you –"_

 _She could remember it, even now. The betrayal she felt when she thought Remus was working with Sirius, trying to kill Harry. She didn't know back then what she knew now, and she kept screaming even as Remus reached out a hand towards her, begging her to understand, before she said the words she will forever regret._

 _"_ _He's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too – he's a werewolf!"_

 _Hermione tried to open her mouth again to apologize, but the scene was already gone, replaced with another._

 _They were sitting in Grimmauld Place, Hermione having a hushed conversation with Remus. She had found out a few days after her arrival that he didn't seem to be able to lie for her – not without her finding out, at any case._

 _She used this to her advantage, asking him questions whenever she thought she could do so without Mrs. Weasley finding out, and Remus rubbed a hand against his face, sighing at the knowledge that the teenager wouldn't leave him alone until he answered her questions – questions for which he didn't have answers to._

 _The scene changed, but only slightly. They were still in Grimmauld Place, but two years has passed. Remus looked so tired, his spirits down due to loss after loss. He handed Harry a copy of the_ Prophet _and Hermione couldn't help but notice a familiar sign on his wrist…_

She woke up with a gasp. It was dark outside, hours into night-time, but even though the room wasn't lit she knew Remus was still awake. She swallowed hard at the thought of him, her hand darting to where the Mark was present on her collarbone.

"Remus?" she whispered.

She could smell his hesitation before he replied, "You should go back to sleep."

She really should have. She wanted to, as well, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep until she checked what she suspected to be true.

"Could you… could you come here, just for a bit?"

Remus swallowed hard, pulling himself to his feet and moving to sit at the edge of Hermione's bed.

"Gave us quite a scare, earlier," he said, hoping he didn't sound as tense as he felt. "Is everything okay now?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted. "I want to check something. Could you show me your hand?" Again, Remus hesitated before handing Hermione his left arm. "The other hand."

Remus swallowed hard, his right hand shaking as he presented it to her. Hermione quickly grabbed her wand, casting a quick _Lumos_ so that she could see more clearly.

An empty triangle, identical to hers in every aspect, was on his wrist. It was a bold black, much clearer now than what she had seen in her dreams – memories? She wasn't sure what they were anymore.

But it was there, clear as day, and it warned to her touch when her finger lingered on it. She looked up at Remus, seeing in his eyes that she understood just as clearly as she did what it meant.

At some point during the full moon, probably when the Marauders weren't paying enough attention to the two wolves, Luna and Moony Marked each other as Mates.

And Hermione and Remus were left to deal with the consequences.

* * *

 **Review, maybe?**


	20. Part 1, Chapter 19

**A/N:** **Sorry, this chapter had been hell to write. A bit embarrassed to admit that I practically forced it into compliant, since exam** **period starts in less than a week and as soon as it does, I probably won't be able to write anything until September.**

* * *

Neither Hermione nor Remus slept that night. Remus, being the one better off out of the duo, snuck to the Library and picked up every book he could find about werewolves. They spent the night reading through them and by the time morning arrived, they were both tired yet very much enlightened.

The way they understood it, while the wolf was the one who chose who to Mark, the chosen person had to accept it for the link to live up to its full potential. If they didn't, the Mark would fade away until, eventually, it could be mistaken as an odd birthmark if one didn't know better

Remus and Hermione, however, _did_ know better. And, more importantly than that, while Hermione was all up to not accepting the bond between them and letting it fade to the background, Remus wasn't so sure.

Logically, he knew he should ignore the link. Emerald was with Gideon, the two of them were undeniably happy together, and he shouldn't let the wolf ruin what little good Hermione had.

Merlin knew she deserved every last bit of it.

On the other hand… as much as he wanted to see Emerald happy, he was also very much selfish, and the only person he wanted to see her happy with was himself.

It would have been so much simpler if they didn't have a choice of what to do next. The wolves had made their choice already, and if they were able to leave it at that he'd have none of the problems he currently did. But life weren't ever so simple.

When Gideon came to visit in the morning, Remus glanced at Emerald one last time before heading out to breakfast.

"Hey," Gideon said, sitting down next to Hermione and brushing a stray curl away from her eyes. "How are you?"

"Tired," Hermione replied. "Sore." She hesitated for a minute before adding, "Worried."

Gideon frowned. "Worried?" he repeated, confused. "Why?"

Wordlessly, Hermione moved her gown to show the Mark present on her collarbone. Gideon looked at it for several long moments before turning to look back at her.

"Is this…?"

"Yes," she said simply.

Gideon didn't say anything for a while before speaking again. "Does he have one, too?"

Hermione swallowed hard. "Yes."

They fell into silence again, and Hermione wondered how it didn't drive him mad the same way it drove her. Then again, she thought to herself, he wasn't confined to bed for as long as she had.

She was sure at least ten minutes had passed before she spoke again.

"Gideon," she sighed. "Gid, say something."

"What am I supposed to say?" Gideon asked. He didn't sound angry, and that was the worst part. She wanted him to scream, to curse, to be mad at her, to be mad at Remus. Instead, he sounded tired and resigned. "Please, Emerald, tell me what I'm supposed to say because I have absolutely no idea. I'm out of my depth here."

"I didn't want this to happen –"

"You didn't," Gideon agreed. "And honestly, I don't believe Remus did and even if he _wanted_ , he's far too respectful to do something like that when you have a boyfriend. But Luna did. And Moony did."

"I…" Hermione swallowed. "Gid, I don't have to accept it. I can decide I don't want it and it'll just fade. It'll be nothing more special than a birthmark."

"Yes, it will," Gideon said. "Because you know it is. And I… I'll always know it is."

"Gideon…"

"I need some time, Emerald," Gideon said, standing up. "I know this wasn't planned, and that you didn't want it, but it happened and now we have to face the consequences."

"What consequences?" Hermione asked. Tears started burning in her eyes but she pushed them back down, fighting to keep looking at her boyfriend. "Gideon, this doesn't have to change anything!"

"That's just it, Em," Gideon sighed as he walked out of the room, not looking back at her. "It already had."

The following night, well past curfew, Hermione stumbled back through the portrait after having gone to visit Gideon in the rooms he shared with his twin. Fabe took one look at the couple before deciding to call it an early night.

In retrospective, Hermione doubted he managed to get much sleep what with the yelling match that took place in the living room of the quarters.

If Hermione knew that the Marauders would wait up for her, she might have stopped in the bathroom to wash over the tear marks left on her cheeks or cast a glamour charm to hide her red eyes. As it was, she didn't, and the four all but jumped at her with questions when they saw her distressed state, only stepping back slightly when she told them that she and Gideon broke up.

"Well, think of the bright side," Sirius said as he sat down by her side in the Common Room. "At least you don't have to go to his classes anymore, since you won the War Zone."

"I really don't think that's helpful, Pads," Remus said, wanting to pull Emerald into a hug but also understanding that she probably didn't want or need it at the moment.

After all, he – or rather, Moony and Luna – had been the main reason for the breakup.

"Well," James tried, "Just a few more weeks to bear with, then. As soon as the year's over, we have two months of never having to think of this castle again."

"For you, maybe," Hermione muttered into the pillow she was hugging. "I'm not exactly sure what's gonna happen, but I think I'll stay here."

"What?" Sirius looked positively horrified at the idea of spending summer vacation in school. "Why?"

"Don't exactly have anywhere to go, have I?" Hermione asked. "No family to go to. No friends who can take me in."

"But… what about Christmas?" Peter asked. "You didn't stay here during Christmas, did you?"

"Gid and I went to visit Molly," Hermione explained. "I don't believe I'm unwelcomed there now, per se, but staying with my ex's sister might not be the best idea at the moment."

"Well, that just won't do," James said. "You'll stay with me – simple as that."

"James, I couldn't –"

"Why not?" James asked. "It's not like we have a lack of space. You've been to my place, you know what it's like."

"I don't want it to feel like charity," Hermione replied. "The rich boy taking in the poor orphan because she has nowhere else to go to…"

"That's not what it is," James said. "You know that, Emma. That's not how I think about you."

"I know," Hermione said. "But that's how it'll feel like."

The four Marauders fell into deep thought as Hermione curled herself even tighter into a ball, trying to block them out. She knew James offered what he did with the best of intentions, but she couldn't bring herself to accept. She always prided herself for working for what she had, and this was the exact opposite.

"Stay with me, then."

Hermione sighed as she looked up at Sirius. "We go back to the same spot," she said. "Look, I don't need charity –"

"Who said you're charity?" Sirius asked. "Alright, just hear me out. I got a load of money from my Uncle Alphard so I'm getting my own place, but I know I'm gonna be rubbish at actually being able to live on my own. You'll stay with me, cook, and maybe pitch in a bit for the food if you can get a job. Not charity if you earn your worth, is it?"

"Sirius, I really can't accept something like that," Hermione said.

"Good thing I'm not asking then, is it?" Sirius asked. "Go to Dumbledore, I'm sure he'll be able to help you sort out a job. Something at Diagon Alley, or maybe even Hogsmeade."

"Sirius, I…" Hermione swallowed hard. "I don't know what to say."

"'Thank you' is usually the common response," Sirius replied. "Next weekend's a Hogsmeade weekend, we'll ask McGonagall for permission to go search for a nice flat. I'm thinking London, maybe even a Muggle area…"

"In the meanwhile," Remus said, cutting into his friend's musing, "You should probably get some sleep. Still a school day tomorrow, and I don't think McGonagall will let you out of Hogsmeade if you fall asleep in her class."

Hermione didn't remember going back up to her room, changing to her nightgown or falling on her bed, but she knew she was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

* * *

Hermione stood nervously in front of the pub, debating whether or not she should walk inside.

She knew it was the smartest thing to do. She knew the chances that anybody else would agree to hire a werewolf were slim to none. But there was something so unwelcoming about this place that she want sure if it was worth it.

 _You can't live in Sirius' place for free,_ she told herself. _You're a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake – walk inside and act like it._

She didn't feel much of a Gryffindor as she walked through the doors and into the Hog's Head, Aberforth's eyes fixating on her immediately.

It seemed to be a slow day in the place. There were only two patrons sitting next to table, yet neither of them paid any attention to the young woman who walked in or the old man who marked her to come closer and sit on one of the stools.

Hermione obediently took her place, waiting silently for Aberforth to talk. He seemed to look her up and down, silently assessing and judging her before speaking.

"So," he finally said. "I ain't gonna lie to you, girl. This job's rough. The costumers are nasty. Most of the kind that goes here are the type that Rosmerta won't let in since they'll only cause trouble. These are the people who pay here, and these are the people who'll give the money for your salary if you work here. So don't bother if you're not ready to deal with them."

"I'm ready to deal with them," Hermione said immediately. When Aberforth looked less than convinced, she added, "I know it's not going to be an easy job. I never expected any differently. But I'm willing to work for my pay."

"Do yourself a favour and leave it alone, girl," Aberforth told her. "This isn't a good job – not in general and not for someone like you. Walk out, go a couple steps back and ask Rosmerta if she needed more staff."

"I…" Hermione started, only to pause in shock. "Dumbledore didn't tell you?"

"The only thing Albus told me is that he wanted to set up a job interview for a student who needs some extra cash," Aberforth said. "He didn't say anything about her apparently being made of porcelain or looking so thin that she should stay inside on a windy day or she'll be thrown away."

Hermione swallowed hard. "I can't get a job at the Three Broomsticks," she said. "Or at any other shop here in Hogsmeade – or at Diagon Alley, for that matter."

"Really?" Aberforth asked. "And why would that be?"

"Well, you see, most people have a slight issue with their worker being forced to skip job a week a month."

For the first time since she walked through the door, Hermione felt like Aberforth wasn't looking at her like she was nothing more than a child.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Emerald Grey," she replied.

"Lie," Aberforth stated. "What's your real name?"

"I…" Hermione hesitated before replying. "Hermione Granger. But I go by Emerald."

"How old are you?"

"I'll be twenty come September."

"And how long ago were you…"

"Less than a year." Aberforth was silent again, so Hermione went on, "I don't need 'some extra cash'. I need money so that I don't have to count on school funds to pay for my books next year. I need money to buy myself clothes that are my own. I need money so that I could stay at my friend's house without feeling like I was accepting charity."

Aberforth sighed, glancing at the patrons for a moment before speaking again.

"One pound per hour," he said. "Weekends are non-negotiable as long as it's not the day of the moon or two following it. That means Friday and Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. You'll get paid at the end of every shift, and you can keep the tips if you get any – but I doubt that you would. How long till the year ends?"

"Three weeks, sir," Hermione replied.

"Then I expect to see you here in three weeks and a day so I can teach you the job," Aberforth informed her in a tone that left no place for argument. "And don't call me 'sir', it makes me feel older than I already am. 'Aberforth' or even just 'Ab' should be fine. Any questions?"

"No, si- no."

"Good," the old man nodded sharply. "Off you go, now. No need to stay here and waste my time until you at least get paid for it. Oh, and one more thing," he added, making Hermione turn to look at him. "You mess with the goats, you're out the door before you can say 'Butterbeer'. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Hermione nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. "And, Aberforth? Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Aberforth replied. "Seriously, don't. Can't let people say I've gone soft."

"Of course not," Hermione smiled, walking out of the pub.

It may not be the best job out there, but Hermione couldn't deny that working at the Hog's Head was going to be an interesting experience.

* * *

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. There's no need to be anything but okay, right? It's just… it's just a train."

Hermione stood nervously, looking at the Hogwarts Express. In just a couple of minutes, the train will take off towards London and the summer vacation will officially start. The end of the year feast was already done with, the exam grades had arrived and all that was left to do now was board the train – a simple action Hermione seemed to be unable to do.

"Emma?"

Remus standing as close to her as he did didn't help, either. All it did was make her think of another train ride, years ago… or a few decades into the future, depends on how you look at it.

"Emerald?" Remus repeated, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I'm… I'm fine," she repeated, not believing herself any more than any of the others did.

"How long had it been since you last boarded a train?" James asked.

"I… two years, give or take," Hermione replied. "Yeah, about two years, I think."

The train ride after Dumbledore died. The train ride where they all sat in complete silence, each of them grieving in their own way.

"Take a deep breath," Sirius instructed. "It's just for a couple of hours and then we're in London. The flat's less than five minutes by foot from King's Cross."

Just a couple of hours until she's in the flat. Just a couple of hours until summer starts.

Only a day before she starts working at the Hog's Head.

"Okay," she finally said. "Okay. I'm good now."

Slowly, she set a hesitant foot on the train and pulled herself up, walking inside.

"See?" Remus asked. "Not so bad, is it?"

"Ask me again after it starts moving."

It didn't take them nearly as long as Hermione expected to find a place to sit considering how late they were to board the train. The Marauders seemed used to it, however, having no trouble in finding a place for all of them.

Hermione sat down, trying to decide whether or not to pull out a book to pass the time and calm her nerves when Sirius spoke.

"Oi! Nerds!" he called out, looking at Hermione and Remus. "Don't you dare start reading a book now. We have chess, we have exploding snap and we have snacks. You two are part of the group, get used to it."

"Are all train rides like that?" Hermione asked quietly.

"With Sirius?" Remus asked. "Always."

Less than an hour had passed before Hermione started hoping she'd have stuck to her book. The group was loud, and while the noise helped to keep her mind away from the memory of the previous time she boarded a train, the Marauders were exhausting.

If to judge by the look on Remus' face, he felt the same. Especially considering the full moon wasn't too far away.

When they arrived to King's Cross station, the Marauders had to physically shake Hermione awake before she finally relented and stood up, wiping sleep from her eyes. She followed them out of the train only to be stopped by a thin hand that grasped her arm.

She wasn't sure who was the most surprised when she turned to see Snape – him, her, or the Marauders.

"Go outside," she told Sirius. "I'll see you soon."

Sirius hesitated for a moment before nodding, walking out and leaving Hermione alone with the Slytherin. Severus waited until Sirius was completely out of sight before speaking.

"I wanted to propose the option that we might set to meet at some point during the summer," he said, sounding like it physically pained him to even offer. "I… it's proving to be difficult to find a… passable partner for intelligent conversation even during the school year, and I'd like to avoid the possibility of my brain rotting due to lack of use."

Hermione smiled softly. "I'd love that," she said. "Though the first few weeks will be difficult, what with work and the…" she trailed off, but Snape nodded curtly.

"I'll owl you soon, then," he stated.

"I'll look forward to it," Hermione said. She hesitated for a moment before reaching out her hand for him to shake. "Have a nice summer, Severus."

"I very much doubt that I will," Snape replied dryly, grasping her hand in his for no longer than the minimum amount of time needed to maintain politeness. "Have a nice summer, Grey."

"Thank you," Hermione replied, smiling one last time before following Sirius out of the train.

Once on the platform, it didn't take her long to track the four boys. She moved closer to them, only recognizing the couple they stood next to when she nearly arrived.

"Dorea," she greeted politely. "Charlus."

"Emerald," Dorea greeted back with a warm smile, while her husband nodded shortly towards the girl. "We've been wondering where you'd disappeared to."

"I just made plan with a friend to meet over summer," Hermione replied, ignoring Sirius' horrified look – whether because she referred to Snape as a friend or because she had agreed to meet with him, she didn't know. "Not for a few more weeks, though."

"Yes," Charlus commented. "I trust you'll be arriving to the Manor with Remus, then?"

"If you're certain it's fine with you –"

"Of course it's fine," Charlus waved her concern away. "We'll see you in a few weeks, then. We should get going now," he added to his wife and James.

"Yes, of course," Dorea said. "Remus, we're escorting you home, aren't we?"

"Yes," Remus replied, smiling at his friends. "See you soon, then."

"See you soon, mate," Sirius smiled back. "Hope you idiots know you're invited to the flat whenever you want, yeah? Don't want the first time I'll see you to be in the Manor."

"Careful," Remus joked. "I just might hold you to this."

"Be my guest," Sirius said with such sincerity that Hermione couldn't help but smile.

 _Maybe this summer won't be so bad, after all._

 **End of Part 1.**

* * *

 **Tell me what you think of the chapter and what you hope to see in the next part, and hopefully I'll see you soon.**


	21. Part 2: Living a Life

**A/N: Sorry I hadn't uploaded in a while... real life had been giving me hell lately, and things are still not completely sort out but I promised my friend I'd get a chapter up before my birthday and seeing as there's still thirty minutes until it arrives, I think this qualifies.**

 **(Also, it's my birthday! Managed to keep fighting for yet another year!)**

* * *

 **You, neutral scene,  
Turn colour down.  
Till I'm, I'm porcelain  
And cracking now.**

 **Phildel, Porcelain.**

Hermione sighed as she walked into the flat she shared with Sirius, dropping her small bag on the kitchen chair. She had long since grown accustomed to Sirius' inquiries about the bag and its contents, and he had long since realize that he won't get a straight answer from her when he asks about it.

Didn't stop him – and the rest of the Marauders – from doing so anyway.

"Emma!" Sirius called happily when he saw her, standing up from where he was sprawled on the couch and pulling her into a tight hug. Even without the strong smell of Firewhiskey, Hermione could have realized that he was stone drunk. "I'm so glad that you're back home already. Isn't it a bit earlier than usual today?"

"It's three in the morning, Sirius," she said, unwrapping herself from his hands.

"Is it?" Sirius asked, shocked, before turning to his friend. "Is it?"

"No way," James said, pulling out the watch he received from his parents for his 17th birthday. "It can't be… Pads," he suddenly said in as much shock as his friend presented. "It's three in the morning. Oh, God. Mum and Dad are gonna _kill_ me."

"Do tell," Hermione sighed, "why would your parents kill you?"

"Because I'm underage drinking," James said as if it were obvious. "Duh."

"James," Hermione said, fighting to hold back a laugh. "You're not underage. Your birthday was months ago. You even have your apparition licence already."

"Oh, you're right!" James called out happily. "Well, I better apparate home, then."

"Oh, no you won't," Hermione was quick to say, holding out her hand. "Wands. Both of you," she added pointedly when Sirius tried to sneak away.

The two wizard sighed but handed her their wands nonetheless before looking at her expectantly.

"What now?" Sirius asked.

"Now you both go to sleep," Hermione informed them. "I'd take away your Firewhiskey but it seems like you already emptied the bottle. Where are Remus and Peter, by the way?"

"Prongs," Sirius said in what Hermione was certain he believed to be a whisper. "Prongs, she's asking about Moony again!"

"Moony and Wormtail," James replied. "Do you think that counts?"

"She's interested in him, it counts."

"The only thing I'm interested in," Hermione said, making both men turn to her, "is why they didn't stop you before you reached the level of intoxication you're currently at."

"Peter couldn't make it today," Sirius said. "His aunt's sick so he's watching her kids."

"And Remus went home early to sleep," James added. "Full moon's only two nights away, you know."

"Trust me, I know," Hermione muttered. "Sirius, off to bed. James, I know you've become more than a bit acquainted with our sofa in the past few weeks, so I trust that you can make your way back to it without getting lost. If either of you vomits anywhere that isn't the inside of the toilet, you're cleaning after yourself. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Emerald."

"Yes, Em."

Hermione let out another tired sigh before flashing both boys a smile and departing to her own bedroom. If she thought that dealing with the drunk men at the Hog's Head would be difficult, she didn't know what she was getting herself into by agreeing to share a flat with Sirius Black.

It took a few nights of trial and error at the Hog's Head for her to find the right balance of dress length to cleavage to make sure she got the most tips for her service with the minimum amount of sexist comments from the bar's patrons. It didn't matter what she wore back home – she had to deal with a drunk group of Marauders every other night.

The one thing she took consolation in was that Remus rarely got drunk – whether because he didn't drink as much as the or because of his Werewolf metabolism, she didn't know nor care. What mattered was that she could limit herself to as few interactions with him as possible while still staying responsible to the people in her flat.

She never had to take _his_ wand away for the night, that was for sure. And since they still didn't talk about the whole 'Mate' thing…

She hadn't decided whether to accept or reject his claim on her. She had a hunch about what he did, specifically becuas of the looks on the other Marauders' faces after the past full moon, but she didn't know for certain and preffered to keep it that way.

She still occasionally saw Gideon at Order meetings, which would have been bad enough even without Molly's announcement that she was pregnant once again. Hermione knew that Fred and George were named after their uncles, but she didn't know for certain if it was before or after the older twins' deaths.

As a matter of fact, the only thing she knew about Gid and Fabe's deaths was that it was bloody and that they didn't go down without a fight.

 _No Gryffindor ever does,_ she mused to herself as she took off the dark red dress she wore to work that day and headed to the shower. _Gryffindors will keep on fighting even when there's nothing left to fight for but the fight itself. And Order members even more than most._

The stream of hot water on her sore muscles felt like Heaven for Hermione's exhasted body. Both she and Aberforth knew that the coming full moon fell on a weekend, but neither of them expected it to take the toll it did on Hermione's body.

She had to repay nearly all of the tips she earned that night as few for glasses she broke and drinks ahe spilled, and though she was supposed to work the next night Aberforth told her to take it off.

"You cost me more than you sell me, the way you are right now," he said. "I've handled Fridays before you came and I'll keep doing it long after you left. Go, have a good night's sleep for once," he added. "Merlin knows you need it."

Hermione took his words, gruff as they may be, to heart as she walked out of the shower and left a note for Sirius not to wake her the next morning. James could do without his wand for several more hours.

She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

* * *

"Emma!" Sirius called loudly as he knocked on the door to his flatmate's room. "Emerald, it's past noon! Wake up already!"

The door opened, revealing a murderous-looking woman in her gown, hair floating around her head in a messy mane of curls.

"I told you not to wake me up today," she all but growled.

"No," Sirius said. "You told me not to wake you up this morning. Technically, it's already afternoon, James and I have been up for hours. We're out of hangover potion, by the way."

"Of course we are," Emerald growled. "You've been chugging it like water the past month."

"There's coffee and meat in the kitchen," Sirius said, ignoring her comment. "And we want our wands back. James needs to go home and I hate doing dished the muggle way."

"Lazy prick," Emerald muttered, walking out of her room and following him down the hall. "I hope you brought the good meat."

"A day before the full moon?" Sirius asked. "I wouldn't dare to try anything else. Red steaks, extra Rare."

"Not completely hopeless yet, then." Emerald nodded at James as she sat next to him, pouring herself some coffee as Sirius placed the meat in front of her, similar to the way you'd try to appeal to an angry Hippogriff. "James, could you pass the salt?" she asked, turning to look at him when he didn't reply. "James?"

"Emerald…" James muttered. "Your hands…"

Her eyes widened and she pulled out her wand, placing the glamour charms on her skin within a moment. James didn't appear any less horrified, though, and she sighed.

"It's old scars," she told him. "And Madam Pomfrey gave me a salve that helps them fade. Please, don't make a big deal out of it."

"Don't make a big deal?" James repeated. "Emerald, your arms are covered in scars!"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm well aware of that, thank you very much. But, like I said, they're old scars and I'd much rather not discuss them. Hence, the charms."

"But –"

"Prongs." Sirius' voice was calm, but there was no mistaking the warning in it. "Don't."

James looked at his friend, seeming to have a non-verbal conversation with him before relenting. It was clear that these scars weren't anything new for Sirius, judging from how he didn't even bat an eyelid at seeing them, and James knew that there was no way the other Animagus let go of the subject before Emerald thoroughly explained it to him.

He wasn't happy about it, but he trusted his friend enough to know that if there was anything they could do, it had already been done.

"Thank you," Emerald said as he handed her the salt, and James had a feeling she was thanking him for more than the simple action. "Your wands are in the pots' drawer, by the way."

Sirius and James both let out a groan at that.

"The pots' drawer," Sirius muttered as he pulled both of them out. "Why didn't we think about it?"

"Well, that's 'cos you're stupid," Emerald replied simply. James grabbed his wand and stood up, ready to go home. "Tell Dorea and Charlus I said 'hi'."

"Tell them yourself," James muttered. "You'll see them tomorrow when you come to the Mansion for the full moon, and there's an order meeting Monday night so you'll see them again."

"Just tell them," Emerald sighed. "Merlin, must you make everything complicated?"

"Yes," James replied immediately.

"Well, duh," Sirius added from where he stood at the other side of the kitchen's counter, supervising the dishes as they washed themselves. "It's James."

"Honestly, Em," James sighed theatrically in a way that reminded Hermione of Fred and George's antics. "I thought you knew me."

"That is to show, Jamsie-boy," Sirius said, moving to escort his friend to the door, "not everything is as it seems."

"Oh, the tragedy!"

"For shame!"

Emerald let out a low growl, making James glance at her worryingly.

"I think I'll go now," he said.

"That'll probably be the best idea," Sirius replied. "Bye, Prongs!"

"Bye, Pads!" James said. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you!"

After closing the door, Sirius turned to Emerald who glared at him from her seat.

"You know," he said, "holding a half-eaten, uncooked steak makes you look even scarier that usual."

"Please, tell me how Dorea managed not to kill the both of you," Emerald said. "Because I'm having difficulties at the moment."

"James is her son and I'm, like, her great nephew or something," Sirius explained. "You don't murder family. Though we _are_ Blacks, so that rule is a bit blurred sometimes."

"You're unbelievable."

"At least I keep things interesting up here," Sirius retorted. "With you it's all 'Work, work, work, full moon, work."

"Yes, well some of us actually have to work for a living," Emerald told him.

"I'm unfamiliar with that concept," Sirius informed her. "Speaking of which, don't you have work to go to?"

"Ab gave me tonight off," Emerald said. "Says I could use the rest with the full moon so close."

"Well, he's not wrong," Sirius concluded. "You plan to keep working during the school year, too?"

"Can't really see how," Emerald sighed. "So I'm trying to save up as much as I can at the moment."

She didn't tell Sirius, but she was currently making a fair amount of money in the Quidditch gambling pit, as well. She never thought there would be a day when Ron and Harry's never ending Quidditch talk would be beneficial, but how else could she have known that the Appleby Arrows won a match against the Wimbourne Wasps for the first time in close to three decades?

She bet a hundred gallons for this match with five different people, managed to nearly double the sum when she won, and double-checked to make sure none of them tried to pay her with Leprechaun gold. She may have not approved when Fred and George bet during the World Cup before her fourth year, but she paid enough attention to avoid repeating their mistakes.

"Any plans for tonight?" she asked Sirius.

"None," he replied. "We all need to get a good night's sleep before the full moon tomorrow."

"That we do," Emerald nodded. "And, in that note, I think I'll be going back to sleep."

"I'll wake you up in time for dinner," Sirius said. "I'm pretty sure understood Muggle currency well enough to order from that Chinese place down the street."

"Just wake me up before the delivery arrives," Emerald told him. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

"It wasn't _that_ bad!"

"You paid fifty pounds for a fifteen pound order!"

"And the delivery girl gave me her number!" Sirius said. "So it wasn't all that bad in the end."

"Good night, Sirius," Emerald laughed, heading back towards her room.

"Good night, Emma," Sirius smiled at her retreating back. "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

* * *

That night, after dinner, Sirius and Hermione fell on the couch.

"I told you I'd manage to pay the bill on my own," Sirius said.

"Yes," Hermione drawled. "You paid with a twenty bill, rather than a fifty."

"I'll have you know that I'm a very generous tipper," Sirius said, puffing his chest. "I have a date with the delivery girl on Tuesday. Her name's Sarah. Lovely girl."

"Oh, I dread to think," Hermione muttered. "Where are you taking her?"

"There's a nice restaurant a few blocks away," Sirius said. "I said I'd pick her up on the motorcycle at eight."

"On the motorcycle?" Hermione repeated. "Her parents are just gonna _love_ you."

"Who said anything about meeting the parents?" Sirius asked with a cheeky smile.

"Please be nice to her," Hermione sighed. "I rather like their food, you know, and I don't want a repeat of what happened at the Italian place we used to order from."

"Me, neither," Sirius replied. "That's why I'm making sure not to meet her parents."

"You're incorrigible!" Hermione laughed before grimacing. "Oh, laughing doesn't seem to be good at the moment."

"Turn around," Sirius said. "Come on, turn around," he added when she raised a brow at him. "Is it really that hard to believe I wouldn't hurt you?"

"Do you want the honest answer?"

"If I wanted to prank you, I'd have done it while you slept and made sure to be gone before you woke up," Sirius said simply. "Now turn around, I'm going to give you a back rub."

"A back rub?" Hermione repeated as she turned her back to him. "How do you know how to give back rubs?"

"I'll spare you the mental scars regarding _that_ question," was all Sirius said, his getting to work on the knots in her back. "Wow, your muscles are tense."

"Full moon correlates with my period and it's been giving me hell," Hermione supplied.

"Was that really necessary?" Sirius asked. "I spared you of the disgusting details."

"Are you saying that you find periods disgusting?"

"No, I'm saying that I could live a long, happy life without knowing that particular piece of information. Do you know what you need?" he asked, working on a particularly tight spot.

"Okay," Hermione sighed. "I'll bite. What do I need?"

"A good shag. I mean it," he added when she turned, looking at him incredulously. "It does wonders for excess energy."

"I'm not even going to comment on that," Hermione scoffed.

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "I swear, you're so stuck up."

"Am not!"

"Are, too!" he laughed. "Let me guess… only child?"

"Obviously," Hermione smiled. "What else?"

"I'd say a wealthy family," Sirius mused. "Not old money, though, I've met enough of those to tell. Businessmen, maybe?"

"Not even close," she laughed. "Dentists."

"What?"

"Tooth Healers," she explained, as she had many times since she first entered the Wizarding World. "They had a private practice, though, so nobody could say money was tight."

"Tooth Healers," Sirius repeated slowly. "I don't think the Muggles will ever cease to amaze me. Anyway, back to your sex life –"

"Sirius!"

"– I really think we should open the subject for discussion again."

"It was never open for discussion in the first place!"

"Course it was," Sirius huffed. "Why else would we discuss it?"

"We're not!" Hermione called out. "We're not discussing it. You're talking about it, and I'm ignoring yo- oh, yes, right there. That's the spot. Dear God, that feels good."

"Never mind," Sirius laughed. "I take back what I said. You don't need a shag – you're halfway there just from this."

"Shut up," Hermione muttered. "And if you even think to stop, you're going to lose a hand."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sirius joked. "Seriously, though," he added. "You and Gideon broke up… what, two months ago? I think it's long enough. Don't you?"

"I…" Hermione sputtered. "We… why are you just assuming that Gid and I…"

"Well, I can't think of another explanation to two points in the map being directly above one another," Sirius shrugged.

"We could have been…" Hermione started, struggling for the right word. "Snogging."

"Snogging?"

"Snogging," Hermione repeated.

"Okay," Sirius smirked. "So you haven't… _snogged_ anyone since Gideon. Doesn't mean you can't go out and snog someone now."

"Sirius…"

"I mean it," he said. "There's fine blokes in every corner. You could easily find someone who'd like a snog."

"It's not that simple," Hermione sighed.

"It really is," Sirius replied. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Emerald. Everyone needs a good snog every now and then."

"Leave it alone, Sirius," Hermione said shaply, shaking his hands off her back. "I think I'll go to sleep now."

"Emma…"

"I'm just really tired, Sirius," Hermione told him. "It's not because of something you said. Good night."

"Good night," Sirius repeated with a sigh. For a few long moments, Hermione didn't move and Sirius couldn't help but smile as he added, "Don't let the bedbugs bite."


	22. Part 2, Chapter 2

Hermione arrived to the Order meeting that Monday night exhausted both mentally and physically.

The night before was the full moon, she barely got any rest during the day as Dumbledore had been pressuring her into giving him more names of Death Eaters that she knew of. He was trying to see if one of them could be turned to their side, and she spent most of the day arguing against the idea.

"You, of all people, know that I care about the cause," she said. "But you also know that if Ab got a hint of what was going on, he'd fire me on the spot. I can't afford to lose this job, Albus. Not when you and I both know there might be nobody else willing to hire in all of England."

"Technically, Hogsmeade is in Scotland," he noted.

"Technically, you're ignoring my point."

Truth was, as much as she wished she could ignore it, he was right. The raids on Muggle villages were becoming more and more frequent and the Order was desperately trying to catch notice of the attacks before they happen.

"We need to keep watch on Muggle villages," Hestia Jones said during the Order meeting.

The young woman was fresh out of Hogwarts and full of motivation, but Hermione could see clear as day that she hadn't seen a real fight first-hand yet. Moody could see it clear as day, too, and Hermione hid her smile with her hand when he fixed Hestia with a look that could only be interpreted as an angry sort of desperation.

"And how do you plan to do _that_?" he asked gruffly. "There are thousands of small towns in England alone, not to mention Wales, Scotland or Ireland. Add to that the mess the Irishmen – which, let me remind you, is the only reason the Ministry's currently able to keep the Muggle Prime Minister at bay – and the fact that there is no pattern to the attacks, and we got absolutely nowhere to start looking."

By the time he finished talking, Hermione was no longer able to hide her smile. Tired as she was, there were very few things she liked better than to see Moody put someone in their place. One of those things were proving him wrong.

"Actually, Alastor," she said, "there _is_ a pattern."

At everyone's shocked faces, she leaned forwards in her seat, her sore muscles protesting the movement, and started marking at the three case files before them.

"All three attacks during the past two months were in small towns, no more than a hundred residents each," she explained. "The Death Eaters attacked at the edge of the town closest to a field that the townsfolk worked in – the furthest away from any main road that might be nearby. They worked the same way at all times. Set a house in flames, sent the Dark Mark to the air, and started murdering the locals, though the never stayed more than a few minutes at the towns after sending the Dark Mark up."

"Probably to avoid being captured," Kingsley said from a few seats down the table.

"According to the witnesses, there were more than enough of them to take out a team of hit wizards, especially when they have no qualms over killing the Muggles in their way," Hermione replied. "But there's something else." She pulled out two pictures, one from the first attack and one from the third. "Eliza and Richard Corson. Newlyweds, graduated from Hogwarts a couple years back and moved to the town three weeks before the attack. They heard screams and came to check what happened. They were both hit with an Avada before they even realized what happened. Rachel Angelou was a bit more prepared, even though she only just graduated. I remember her," she explained. "She was the year above me, in Ravenclaw." She found her eyes darting to look at Dumbledore momentarily as she added, "I guess Gryffindors aren't the only courageous ones."

"Let me get this straight," Charlus said, "you're saying that these people were the Death Eaters' true targets, and that all of the Muggles were simply distractions?"

"I'm saying this and more," Hermione told him. "I think you should check who recently moved to the third town." She raised the case file of the second attack. "The Death Eaters stayed there for eleven minutes, but there was no wizard killed. And while you're at it," she added, "these people had to notify someone at the Ministry of the change in address. Find who had access to that information, and you'll find your leak."

With that, she leaned back in her chair, her eyes focused on Moody.

"You're very good at thinking like a Death Eater, Grey," he growled.

"Occupational hazard," she replied curtly. "I'm sure you, of all people, would understand."

Moody's only response was a respectful nod, before he moved on to the next subject of the day's meeting.

When the meeting was over, Hermione hung back to talk to the other Order members. She was just about to bid them good night when Kingsley approached her, a curious smile on his face.

"That was some nice deductions back there," he told her.

Hermione couldn't help but return the smile the young man gave her. She knew the man he would grow up to be, and held him with the highest of respect. As disorienting as it often was to meet people she knew almost twenty years in the future, it was also interesting and more than a bit amusing when it came to some of them. Kingsley Shacklebolt was _definitely_ included in that group, and Hermione found herself as comfortable with the young Auror as she was with the older one that she already knew.

"I spent eight months on the rum from them," she said. "At a certain point, you have to start thinking like them, to avoid getting caught. Knowing what they would expect from you, then do the exact opposite."

"'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles'," Kingsley quoted with a smile.

"San Tzu," Hermione noted. "I'm impressed."

"Well, he _is_ one of the most famous wizards of all time," Kingsley shrugged, unaware of the effect his words had on Hermione.

"San Tzu is a wizard?" she asked, shocked.

"You didn't know?"

"Muggleborn," she reminded him, amused.

"Well, it's quite common knowledge around here," Kingsley laughed. "Maybe we could sit down for coffee sometime and discuss it… and other things?"

Though the suggestion might have been seen as something completely innocent to a bystander, Hermione knew Kingsley good enough – present or future – to know it held more than a simple offer for coffee.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I think my life's a bit too complicated for that at the moment, and I'd hate to drag you into that mess."

As if to remind her just how complicated her life is, she felt the mark on her neck warm momentarily. Kingsley nodded, seeming to take her words in his stride.

"In another life, maybe," he said with a small smile, turning away.

"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "In another life."

She sighed heavily, and turned around to leave only to find herself face to face with the one person she managed to avoid completely for the past two months.

"If I'd known there would be that much competition, I might have held on to you a bit longer," Gideon joked, and Hermione's heart swelled a bit when she saw the corners of his eyes wrinkling slightly. "Emerald… feels like forever since we last talked."

"You were the one who told me to leave you alone," she said, ashamed at the way her voice broke slightly.

Gideon sighed. "Emerald… you knew it wouldn't have worked. Not in the long term."

"You could have tried," she countered.

"So could you." At the way her jaw tightened, he sighed again. "I never meant for it to be this destructive," he said. "I miss you, even if only as a friend. Bill and Charlie won't stop asking about you."

"How are they?" Hermione asked.

"They're good," Gideon replied with a smile. "Can't wait to go to Hogwarts already, even though Bill still has four more years to go."

"It'll pass in no time," Hermione assured him. "For Molly, at least. I'm sure he'll feel like it's forever."

"Yeah," Gideon laughed. "She's pregnant again, you know. We're hoping for a girl, _finally_ , but with what you told me…"

"Not just yet." Hermione forced herself to smile, and hoped her nervousness didn't show – or, at least, could be passed for post-moon symptoms. "I should really go to bed now. Didn't really get a lot of rest today, and with the moon last night."

"If course," Gideon nodded, moving out of the way. "Goodnight, m'Lady."

Hermione paused for a moment, feeling tears forming in her eyes at the familiar nickname that became their inner joke the past year.

"Goodnight, fair knight," she replied as she always did, before all but fleeing out of the room.

Molly was pregnant. She was pregnant with the twins, as Hermione knew very well. And the twins – the younger twins – were named after their uncles.

They were named after their murdered uncles. Molly named them in memory of her brothers.

 _Which meant,_ Hermione concluded, dread building up inside her, _at some point between now and the twins' birth in April… Gideon and Fabian will die._

* * *

Even as she felt someone sitting across from her, Hermione didn't raise her eyes from the copy of the _Prophet_ in front of her. After all, she wouldn't have picked it up if he wasn't late to begin with, and she was reading quite an interesting article.

As it turned out, Moody listened to her advice and found the person who connected all three attacks, but instead of listening to Moody and use the man to find other Death Eaters, Crouch decided to go after the man with a small battalion of Aurors in tow.

The following result was the man – who they now heavily suspected was under the Imperious curse – setting his house on fire. Fiendfyre, to be exact, as he took four men with him when he died and the Aurors spent close to a day stopping the fire from spreading into nearby houses.

She was just reading Minister Minchum's response to the event when the man in front of her sighed in annoyance.

"Do you intend to ignore me all day long?"

"Depends," she replied. "Do you intend to be late every single time?"

"It's not my fault and you know it," Severus huffed. "I was held back at work last time, and Lucius wanted to talk to me this morning."

"Excuses, excuses," Hermione sighed, glancing at him from over the paper in her hand. "How was the wedding?"

"Well, Lucius seemed genuinely happy and Narcissa looked wonderful in her dress," Severus said, marking the waitress to order a cup of tea.

"And…?" Hermione prompted.

"And if I never have to attend another wedding in my entire life, I'd consider it too soon."

Hermione felt a smile form on her lips as she put the newspaper down.

"What about your own?" she inquired.

"If I manage to about _that_ , I'd consider myself twice as lucky," Severus deadpanned.

"Is that so?" Hermione asked. "What about mine?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Severus almost snorted. "We both know that you have no plans of marrying in the foreseeable future. Unless…" he added thoughtfully. "Is there something I should know of that is going on between you and a certain Marauder?"

"There is nothing you should know," she said with a wide smile. "Sirius and I are only friends."

"That is not who I meant and you know it."

"You're right, though," Hermione went on, ignoring Severus' comment. "Marrying seems rather counter-productive at the point."

 _Especially seeing as I won't be here anymore in just a couple of years,_ she added silently.

In the few days since her conversation with Gideon, Hermione became more and more aware of the passing of time. In only a few weeks, it will be her birthday, and the day will mark that only two years were left before her actual… well, _birth_.

"Well, as far as I'm aware, we're not here to talk about our non-existent weddings," Severus moved on. "How's the past moon been?"

"It's actually the best I've had in a while," Hermione admitted.

Though it was a hard decision to tell Severus her secret – and, as Sirius said more than once, probably a stupid one, as well – she didn't regret it. Severus already knew enough of her secrets so that if he decided to sell her out, him knowing about her condition will be the least of her problems.

"Mauled anyone?"

The fact that he seemed to joke with her about it, rather than be disgusted as she expected, helped her know she made the right call when she trusted him.

"Not this month, no," she replied.

"Oh, well," Severus sighed. "There's always next time."

Hermione laughed and launched into a conversation with her friend.

How's vacation been going so far? How were things at home? Was he awaiting the coming school year? He rolled his eyes when she asked if he'd finished his homework before quickly changing the subject to her own work, asking if any of the customers were giving her trouble.

Throughout the conversation, Hermione could see that there was something Severus wanted to talk about, but it wasn't until an hour into their meeting that he brought the subject up.

"During my stay at Malfoy Manor, I was approached with a proposition," Severus told her. "A year's worth of Potions Apprenticeship in Spain, immediately followed by a job offer here in England."

"Severus, that's amazing!" Hermione said, beaming at her friend. "Where will you be working?"

"I will be handling several… private projects," he settled after a short pause. "For Lucius."

It was as if the temperature in the room dropped several degrees at his words. Hermione could feel her muscles tense as Luna growled in the back of her mind.

"Severus…" she started slowly.

"Emerald, this is an amazing opportunity for me –"

"It's more than a simple job offer and you know it."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Severus asked. "As easily as Lucius can get me this apprenticeship, he can make sure nobody will hire me ever again. And that's assuming I'll stay alive long enough. If the Dark Lord…" he trailed off, glancing around worryingly, lowering his voice to a whisper. "You and I both know odds are I'll be dead within a week."

"So, what?" Hermione asked. "You're just going to roll over? Do whatever they want?"

"When the alternative is dying?"

"They kill people, Severus!" Hermione reached out, grabbing the newspaper and all but slamming it in Severus' face. " _This_ is their work. The three attacks on Muggle villages in the past month, that was them! The murders of Muggleborns all over the country, that was _them_! What if the next one would be me? What if the next one would be Lily?"

"What do you expect me to do?" Severus asked. "I have no choice but to join them. We've gone past that point months ago."

"Then…" Hermione started, desperate to find anything that Severus could do other than simply join the Death Eaters. Her eyes widened slightly when she remembered something the werewolves at the camp said the day after Voldemort's fall. "You can become a spy."

The look on Severus' face could only be described as shock. "What?" he hissed.

"Spy on Voldemort for us," she explained. "We can talk to Dumbledore – I'll vouch for you!"

"Calm down!" Severus said. "You are completely out of your mind, I won't become a spy!"

"It's better than the alternative," she argued.

"My future is on the line here!"

"The world's future is on the line here!"

"What about you?" Severus questioned. "If this was you, _your_ job and life, can you honestly tell me you'd agree to become a spy?"

Hermione opened her mouth, ready to tell him that _of course_ she would become a spy, when she remembered her own conversation with Dumbledore.

She refused to use her job at the Hog's Head to spy, at risk of losing it. If she, who only had two years of her future to worry about, wouldn't risk what she had for a cause she was already risking her life for, how could she berate Severus for not wishing to risk both?

"That's what I thought," Severus said, standing up and leaving Hermione to think her words and actions.

Never, in close to twenty years of her life, had she felt more like a hypocrite than in that moment.

* * *

Hermione stood in front of the mirror, studying her reflection carefully. Sirius made sure her wardrobe was well-stocked with dresses, and despite her annoyance at him for buying her things, she managed to find a few favourites she often wore to work.

She never wore this one before, though, and not because of the cut or the cleavage.

"You look amazing," Sirius said as he walked through the door. "I don't think I've seen you wear this one before. Is it because of the 'Emerald wearing emerald' jokes? Cause if so, I promise to keep James at bay."

"It's…" Hermione started. "It's not the jokes. It's the colour."

"What, green?"

"Emerald green," she clarified. "He… _he_ used to make me wear emerald green dresses."

Her hands travelled unconsciously to her hips, where the worst of the scars she sustained while at Greyback's camp were. Deep, jarred cuts made from nails digging into skin.

"Th- that's why they gave me that name," she explained, her voice wavering. "Because he loved seeing me in emerald dresses. That was when I stopped being Hermione."

She didn't realize she was shivering until Sirius put a firm hand on her shoulder, making her stop.

"You don't have to do it," he said. "If you don't want to wear this dress, don't. But if you do, that we're all there tonight. James, Remus, Pete, Lily and I. We'll be there for you."

"I… I want to," Hermione said determinedly. "I'm free. He can't control me anymore. I can't let him control me."

"If you're sure," Sirius replied, pressing a light kiss to her temple. "We should head out. The guys will be waiting and I don't want you to be late for work. Got to keep your clean record."

"If you knew half the stories about my old school, you'd know I had anything _but_ a clean record," Hermione laughed, taking her hand in his and heading outside to Apparate.

As Sirius expected, by the time they reached Hogsmeade there was already a group waiting for them. Lily and James were arguing about something, as per usual – honestly, Hermione couldn't wait for the two of them to get together already – while Remus was explaining something to Peter. When Hermione and Sirius arrived, the conversation paused for greeting and Hermione anxiously waited for the remarks she knew they would make about her dress.

Thankfully, it was Lily who was first notice.

"Oh, Emerald, it's beautiful," she said. "Where did you buy it?"

"Ask Sirius," Hermione replied. "He bought about half of my wardrobe."

"Good choice, mate," James smiled. "Emerald wearing –" A sharp elbow to the ribs from Sirius and a nod towards Hermione's troubled face stopped the joke before it could fully form. "Wearing a very… fitting dress," James finished lamely, sending a curious glance towards Sirius.

"Later," the dog Animagus whispered before adding, louder, "You should go before you're late, Em. We'll join you in a bit."

"Right," Hermione said, glancing at her watch before cursing under her breath. "See you in a bit."

"What was that about?" James asked as soon as she was out of hearing range.

"No comments about the colour of her dress," Sirius replied. "It was hard enough for her to put it on in the first place, don't make it harder for her."

"Remus?" Lily asked before James could say anything else. " Are you alright?"

"She's… beautiful," Remus breathed out, his eyes fixated on Emerald's retreating form.

"You should close your mouth before you catch a fly," Peter joked.

"Or start to drool," Sirius quickly added, grateful for the change in conversation.

"Oh, shut up," Remus muttered, all too aware of the knowing look his friends exchanged. "Let's go inside."

"Yeah," James laughed, "Can't keep _Luna_ waiting all night."

"Luna?" Lily repeated. "When did Emerald get a Marauder nickname?"

"She's an honorary Marauder," Sirius replied. "All honorary Marauders get a nickname."

"Do I have a nickname?"

"Let's go inside," James interrupted, a blush rising on his face.

"Wait, no," Lily said. "What's my nickname?"

"Trust me," Remus said, leading her towards the pub, "you don't want to know."

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Aberforth was stationed behind the bar while Hermione handled the clients, elegantly moving from one table to another for refills. None of the tables gave her any trouble except for a group that tried to get away without paying, but Aberforth handled them with ease.

It was an hour before the closing time, just as the group was debating whether to wait for Hermione's shift to be over, when the door slammed open.

At first, nobody looked twice at the newcomers. Then, a burst of wind from outside brought a strange smell with it that made both Hermione and Remus raise their heads in undisguised fear.

Aberforth was the first to notice something was wrong, and his lack of movement made the bar's patrons raise their heads, only to freeze, as well.

The leader of the group only had eyes for the waitress in front of him.

"Well, well, beautiful," Fenrir Greyback all but growled. "Don't you just look ravishing in that dress?"

The glasses Hermione was holding slipped from her hands and crashed on the floor with a splatter.


End file.
